The Emancipators
by Zykaben
Summary: "Believe with all your might that you'll have a Quirk in the next life and take a swan dive off the roof!" The second those words left Bakugou's mouth, Izuku felt something potent and dark snake around his heart, binding it like a vow. He would be the reason that Bakugou died. Nothing would be left when he was done with him. Izuku would uphold this until his dying breath.
1. Origins: Part I

**Ay I decided to crosspost this from ao3. I'm going to upload all the chapters at once. I hope that you all like it!**

 **Also this fic has a discord server! The link is on my profile page if you want to join.**

* * *

Laughter, cruel and cold, rang in Izuku's ears as his body pulsed with pain. He knew that if he looked up, he would see hateful red eyes and a malicious smile, lackeys laughing themselves silly, their childish and sadistic urges sated. And, worst of all, Izuku knew that he was powerless to stop it.

He was certain that Kacchan was making some inane comments on what a "worthless Deku" or "Quirkless loser" he was, but Izuku couldn't find it in himself to care enough to listen. He focused on the burns that now adorned his skin, the scorch marks that blackened his clothing, and the awful, shrill shrieks of amusement coming from his classmates. He took it all in, letting it grate at him and fueling his determination.

 _You will be better than them,_ Izuku told himself in the quiet recesses of his mind. _You will make them regret this. You just need to wait._

His mom would be so worried for him if she knew he had thoughts like that. For that reason he would not tell her about it. Ever.

As it always went, Kacchan and his lackeys would be the first to slink off, followed by their adoring classmates about how "awesome" and "cool" they were. Once they were all gone, voices lost to the wind, Izuku picked himself up off of the ground. He was burned and battered, but far from the broken shell that Kacchan seemed to want him to be.

He refused to become anything Kacchan wanted him to be. He would never allow it.

For now, though, that wasn't important. He had to get home and put on a show of being perfectly fine for his mom. His facade had to be perfect. He didn't want her to be sad. She had enough to worry about.

Wiping away the tears that he was never able to keep in, he gingerly put on his backpack and began to make his way home with shaky, lopsided steps.

The problem with society, Izuku figured, was how much it was all by ruled by Quirks. It didn't matter what a person acted like, what their personality was, how hard they tried. It all took second place to what a person's Quirk was, how powerful that Quirk was, and how well someone could use it.

It's why people like Izuku would never be able to fit in society. He has been condemned since he was pronounced Quirkless. Oh, he still wanted to be a hero. Even if it was hopeless, he still craved it and couldn't just give it up. Not yet. Maybe not ever.

His classmates certainly had no qualms with reminding him of how useless and fantastical his dream was. With Kacchan leading the campaign of bullying against him and everyone else an eager participant, Izuku had no delusions of their opinion of him.

He paused for a moment. Why was he still calling Kacchan "Kacchan"? It had been a name for his easily irritated childhood friend, something that Kacchan certainly was _not_ anymore.

Izuku hadn't hated Kacchan.

Izuku absolutely despised Bakugou.

Izuku knew that it would have been impossible to explain to someone, but it made perfect sense in his head. Kacchan was gone. In his place was a bully who believed that everyone around him was a background character or a stepping stone.

He would wield the name like a weapon against Bakugou, but he would never truly be Kacchan to Izuku again.

Izuku stopped when he finally reached his home. He brushed off his clothes and tried to hide the burns on his uniform and his skin as best he could. He pasted on a smile that grew far more genuine when he hugged his mom and she announced that she was making katsudon for him.

That night, before he went to bed, he made a note to himself to start writing entries in his Hero Analysis for the Future journals.

* * *

"You wanna be a hero so bad? I've got a time-saving idea for you. Believe with all your might that you'll have a Quirk in the next life and take a swan dive off the roof!"

The second those words left Bakugou's mouth, Izuku felt something potent and dark snake around his heart, binding it like a vow.

 _I will be the reason that Bakugou dies. I will destroy him in every sense of the word. Nothing will be left when I am done with him. I will uphold this until my dying breath._

Izuku was certain that his face was twisted with murderous intent and, somewhere in the back of his mind, he was thankful that no one was there to witness his expression. He didn't need anyone growing suspicious or reporting something to a teacher. He just needed time. Enough time to grow better than Bakugou and strong enough to grind that malicious, arrogant sneer from his face. Permanently.

That time was not today. It wasn't even likely to be this _year_ , but Izuku would see his vision through until it came into fruition.

For now, he had a journal to find.

* * *

His journal hadn't landed on the ground. No, it had landed in the koi pond because having it burned and then thrown out the window just wouldn't have been good enough for dearest _Kacchan_.

Izuku gingerly picked it out of the water. He would have to blowdry the pages so that they didn't stick together. Giving it up for a lost cause didn't even cross his mind; he had put entirely too much effort into _Hero Analysis for the Future No. 13_ to scrap it. Taking care to be gentle, Izuku turned through the sopping pages and assessed the damage. Surprisingly, everything seemed more or less intact. A few paragraphs and sketches were blurred, but for the most part it was all legible. Izuku couldn't believe his luck.

His journals had started as ways of documenting heroes and how they fought. He would diligently record their strengths, ways they could improve, and possible weaknesses. It wasn't until the bullying got worse that he started to document his classmates and included potential ways to neutralize them and heroes alike.

He had enough analysis on Bakugou to write a whole journal at this point. His fighting style, his temper, his hatred of Izuku, his Quirk… Izuku wrote about it all. Any observation that Izuku made was a strength that he could mitigate or a weakness that he could exploit, no matter how much Bakugou thought he had none of the latter.

Izuku had figured out long ago that the best way to render Bakugou completely useless would be to cauterize his entire body, damaging and sealing all of his sweat glands off. Without his sweat, without his Quirk, Bakugou would be _nothing_. It would, of course, be incredibly painful for Bakugou and leave him effectively Quirkless. It would be a wonderful way to go about crushing him.

It was almost poetic, in a way. The person Bakugou hated most reducing him to the thing that he hated more than anything in the world. Izuku would have to seriously consider that option.

He always made sure to keep a few pages free of his more gruesome ideas so that he could show his mother. She loved hearing him talk about heroes and looking over the pages he showed her. Izuku knew without a doubt that she would be concerned to learn about his darker thoughts. He refused to cause her any undue stress.

With the amount of care that most only showed to newborn children, Izuku placed the soggy journal in his backpack. He just needed to get home as quickly as possible so that the minimal damage had no chance of getting worse.

* * *

Of course he had used up all of his good luck with the state of his journal. Obviously the universe had decided that it was being too nice to him so now he had to fall victim to some random villain made of mud and sludge.

If Izuku wasn't so certain that he was going to die, he would have been planning out the best way to get revenge on this complete _asshole_.

He distantly heard a voice muffled by the slime and the roaring in his ears. Suddenly, there was a gale of wind and the sludge dispersed completely and _he could breathe_.

As his vision faded to black and his mind teetered into unconsciousness, he caught a hazy glimpse of the person who had saved him.

 _All Might?_

* * *

He came to with a large gently tapping his cheek and his entire body pulsing with pain. He blearily opened his eyes. What…?

" _Thank God!_ " a voice above him boomed.

Well, Izuku was certainly awake now.

Everything quickly came crashing back. Bakugou trashing his journal, Izuku's vow to _end him_ , being accosted by some random slime villain, and being rescued by…

 _All Might_.

The Number One Hero in all of Japan was talking in the distinct and jovial manner that everyone in the country was familiar with but Izuku couldn't even comprehend the words. Here, right in front of him, was the man who had been bestowed the title of the Symbol of Peace. Izuku registered that he really should be listening to what All Might was saying. However, the majority of his brain was currently in the process of fritzing out because _oh my god All Might_.

Looking back on this moment, Izuku would realize that this was when his role of an All Might fanboy was carved into stone. His faith in All Might could be shaken and stirred, but it would never break.

All too soon—because a few seconds in All Might's presence would never be enough—the man was pocketing the liter bottles filled with the slime villain and standing up. Izuku scrambled for his journal, all earlier semblance of reverence for it paling to All Might there in the flesh.

"C-can I have your autograph?" Izuku forced out through his twisting tongue. The words came out too high and too shrill for a boy his age but it didn't matter because _All Might_. And then, faster than Izuku could make out, All Might had signed his journal.

Anyone who looked at Izuku at that time would swear that there were actual stars in his eyes.

Izuku's voice seemed to come back then and he found himself rambling full-force about how he would treasure this journal forever and keep it as a family heirloom and _holy shit Bakugou is going to be so jealous_.

That's when he realized All Might was leaving. Saying something about professionals always being busy.

 _Wait,_ Izuku tried to force out, _I need to ask you something!_

Acting on impulse, Izuku grabbed All Might's leg.

* * *

 _Alright,_ Izuku thought, _that was probably the dumbest thing that I've ever done in my life but I absolutely do not regret it._

Izuku could vaguely make out All Might mumbling to himself from his place on the rooftop but he only managed to catch what All Might was saying when the man raised his voice.

"I really have no time to lose, so I'll leave you here!"

 _No. This is not happening a second time_.

"Wait! Uh—"

"No! I can't wait!"

"Can I become hero," Izuku said, "even without a Quirk? Is it possible for... a Quirkless person to become a hero like you?"

Izuku knew he was rambling again, but he couldn't stop himself. He needed to know what All Might thought. He had to know if Bakugou and everyone else at school were truly wrong. He needed to know that even All Might himself did not agree with them.

When Izuku looked up again and saw a frail, skeleton-thin man in All Might's place, he felt something in his heart shatter just a little further.

* * *

Well. That certainly wasn't how Izuku had expected things to go. He couldn't say that he was happy about it, but he wasn't nearly as broken up about it as he thought he would be.

All Might had been blunt but he certainly had not been unnecessarily cruel or malicious and, as skewed as Izuku realized it must seem, that went a long way in his books. It was loads better than everyone at school, at the very least.

It wasn't good but… it was something.

Now Izuku was making his way back home. He was excited to tell his mom about meeting All Might, though he would certainly be leaving out everything _after_ All Might jumped into the air with Izuku clinging to his leg, including the event itself.

That was when Izuku noticed the large crowd that was gathered on the other side of the street.

Ever curious, Izuku quickly made his way to the edge of the densely packed crowd. He stretched his back and stood on the tips of his toes, trying to make himself as tall as possible to see over the heads of the crowd. And when the crowd shifted and a window opened between them, Izuku saw it. The slime villain.

The crowd was rumbling with raised voices, exclaiming that a schoolboy had been captured and the heroes were waiting on someone with a better-suited Quirk to arrive on the scene. Izuku wanted nothing more than to see the villain _taken out_.

Then the monster shifted. Izuku could see blond hair sullied with sludge and red eyes alight with a foreign emotion.

Fear.

Izuku's brain kicked into overdrive and he reached a decision within two seconds.

He wanted payback against this villain and he was going to get it. He couldn't be completely sure, but he was rather certain that the eyes, if nothing else, were a weak point. Just the idea of a Quirkless school boy helping to take down a powerful villain who was enough to subdue Bakugou was tantalizing enough for him to consider charging.

The thing that really cinched his decision was that the victim was Bakugou. Oh, Bakugou would _loathe_ being rescued by a "useless Deku" and while it most certainly did not make them even, it was a damn good starting point. Bakugou would think about this every day, that _Deku_ had been the one that _saved_ him.

Besides, dearest Kacchan was _Izuku's_ to destroy. And, in Izuku's humble opinion, Bakugou hadn't suffered nearly enough to die just yet. He wasn't about to let Bakugou take the easy way out.

So Izuku sprang into action, swinging his backpack off his shoulder, pegging it into the eye of the villain. While the monster shrieked, its hold on Bakugou relented for but a moment. Bakugou's face twisted into that familiar expression of rage that Izuku hated so much.

"Why!" Bakugou roared, "Why are _you_ here!"

"My legs moved by themselves!" Izuku lied, "I don't really understand why!"

And then an idea so wonderful and cruel came into Izuku's head. He forced down a smile as he spoke his next words, making them loud enough for _everyone_ to hear.

"Because… your face seemed to be calling for help!"

Oh, that was certainly a new look on Bakugou. Shame and embarrassment and pure, unadulterated rage the likes of which Izuku had never seen before. And Bakugou could do nothing about it.

It sent a thrill through Izuku.

Almost as quickly as it had begun, it was over, All Might coming in from nowhere and defeating the villain with a single punch, scattering the slime everywhere. The heroes made quick work of the clean up and All Might left soon after being thanked by an adoring public.

Izuku really could have done without the lectures he got from the Pro Heroes but he had years of experience tuning out angry people while giving the passing appearance of listening. Sure enough, he was sent home within the hour.

What a day it had been. Being the victim of a villain attack, meeting All Might, discovering the Number One Hero's greatest secret, humiliating Bakugou who was also the person he despised with a hatred so black and poisonous that it made his skin crawl…

It had certainly been exciting, if nothing else.

He figured that it was over by this time, the setting sun painting the sky a brilliant orange and the wind whispering through the leaves bringing him peace and closure.

And then All Might rounded the corner.

After the man deflated, Izuku stumbled over an apology. He didn't manage to get very far before All Might cut him off with a speech of his own. Izuku was stunned to say the least. Here All Might was, telling him that the words Izuku had spoken aloud, the ones that he did not believe, were pivotal in what being a hero meant. Here was All Might, the man he had hero-worshipped since he could speak, leading him to such an _obvious_ conclusion…

If Izuku were a better person then he would have told All Might the truth.

 _If I had been a better person,_ Izuku told himself, _then this conversation wouldn't be happening in the first place._

"Top heroes have stories about them from their school days. Most of their stories have one thing in common: their bodies moved before they had the chance to think. This… is what happened to you too."

Izuku fell to his knees, tears streaming down his face. "Yes," he lied, his voice a wet and frail thing.

With All Might's steady gaze on him, the man spoke the words that Izuku had longed to hear for all his life.

"You can become a hero."

And there it was, flickering faintly in his chest. Something he had tried to smother and kill so many times.

Hope.

Izuku was going to be the best hero that the world had ever seen. Better than any of the kids from his school, better than _Bakugou_. Hell, maybe one day he would surpass All Might himself.

Failure was not an option.

Izuku was going to change the world and there wasn't anyone or anything out there that would stop him.


	2. Origins: Part II

Izuku was frighteningly familiar with pain and many of the forms it took. The sharp ache from Bakugou's explosions, the dull throb of being kicked or punched, the way his chest tightened when his mother looked ready to cry, how his throat burned when he choked back tears, and the somehow unbearable feeling of stubbing his toe. Izuku knew all of these feelings well.

What he was _not_ familiar with was being the person who caused his pain.

All Might's training regimen was… brutal. That was the only way to describe it. Not that Izuku minded. He was prepared to do anything to become a hero and he never once thought that it would be easy.

That didn't mean that it felt particularly great.

What was nice was the results. Izuku knew that he was growing stronger with each and every day. He was losing fat and gaining muscle. Even if this deal with All Might fell though (he did _not_ want to think about that), Izuku would come out of this a great deal stronger. It made him feel powerful. Like he really _could_ become a hero.

It was almost a little addicting, if he was being honest.

Izuku came to the conclusion that if he wanted to get stronger, then more training would help even if All Might had told him not to. Sure, it was hell on his body, but what was the familiar agony of pain in comparison to becoming the best hero of all time? Absolutely nothing.

That was why Izuku was so confused when his body refused to cooperate and collapsed under him. That confusion soon transitioned into an odd sense of betrayal. How could Izuku's own body fail him? Didn't it want to be a hero just as much as the rest of him?

Izuku would later attribute his irrational thoughts on the same over-exhaustion that caused his body to give out on itself.

As embarrassing as it was being lectured by the Number One Hero on proper exercise practices, especially when Izuku couldn't even muster the strength to look up at the man, it was something that Izuku admitted that he needed to hear. It was just like studying, in a way; overloading on it would ultimately lead to no progress being made at the cost of large amounts of energy. It made perfect sense now that Izuku actually thought about it.

Thankfully, All Might was perfectly willing to create a new exercise and eating plan that would push Izuku further without leading to overexertion.

It was at times like those that Izuku found himself becoming a fanboy of All Might all over again. The man wasn't exactly the same as how he portrayed himself to the general public, but this version of him—the one that Izuku had gotten to know—felt _real_ in a way All Might never had before. Izuku hadn't even noticed until All Might had become his mentor. The man certainly wasn't being artificial with his personality, but he was certainly exaggerating it to some degree.

When Izuku thought about why All Might did this, he couldn't help but think that he would have done the same in his position.

Being a hero was about more than just strength of body. It was about being physically, mentally, and emotionally robust. Izuku had known all of this long ago but seeing it in action… it was inspiring.

Another reason on the ever-growing list of why Izuku wanted to become a hero.

* * *

The day that Izuku finished clearing the beach was one of the proudest moments in his entire life.

Nearly a year had been dedicated to training under All Might. It was a year filled with blood, sweat, and tears.

By god, it was all worth it though. The feeling of complete gratification and ecstasy that flooded through him was enough to make him scream.

So he did.

Izuku roared at the sky, relishing in the ache of his muscles that used to be nonexistent, taking solace in the way his voice tore through his throat, and just being here, in this moment, where he had achieved what he had set out to do. There was still work to be done, of that Izuku was certain. Izuku had won this battle, but the war was far from over. That was alright for now, though.

Izuku felt like he could conquer anything and everything.

That's when he swooned off of the pile of garbage.

Popping up out of nowhere, All Might managed to catch him before Izuku could concuss himself. All Might was so proud of him that Izuku felt like his heart was going to burst. In front of him was a man who could have been anywhere else, doing anything he wanted, and here he was, training a Quirkless schoolboy to be a hero. He couldn't help the tears that spilled over. His words would never be enough to express how grateful he was to All Might, but he was going to do his damndest to try.

Izuku felt something spark inside of him. Something that he had only ever felt for his mom. He quickly smothered it. No use in entertaining the impossible. Sure, he had never heeded that advice before, but that was beside the point.

Izuku's elation was only quelled when All Might took a single strand of his hair from his head and held it out to Izuku.

"Eat this."

… Well, Izuku hadn't quite been expecting that.

* * *

Being at U.A. for the entrance exam was one of the most amazing and nerve-wracking things Izuku had ever experienced. Here he was, the school where heroes were made, with a Quirk he had received just earlier this morning. Or, at least, so All Might claimed. Izuku might have thought it was a tasteless prank, but he doubted All Might would have dedicated ten months of his time to pulling a lame joke on a middle schooler.

In any event, Izuku could hardly believe how his life had changed so drastically over such a short period of time. A year ago, Izuku would have been resigned, terrified, utterly hopeless. But Izuku was not the person he was a year ago. Now he only felt determination burning in his stomach and ambition clenching in his chest.

Izuku was not going to fail this. No matter what happened today, he was getting into U.A. He refused to achieve anything less than what he desired.

"Out of my way, fucking Deku!"

With that snarled voice, any positive emotion Izuku had been feeling was completely negated.

 _Bakugou_.

Oh, Izuku had not forgotten the promise he had made to himself the day that Bakugou had told him to kill himself. He desperately wanted to fulfill it, make Bakugou cry and scream and grovel and _hurt_.

But All Might would be so disappointed with Izuku if he knew what Izuku was thinking. Not to mention what _his_ _mom_ would think.

And so Izuku only leveled Bakugou with a deadpan stare and took one step to his right. Bakugou's stride faltered for a heartbeat, surprise flashing across his face. It was a new look on Bakugou. Much better than his angry sneer. Izuku still preferred his helpless and fearful expression, though.

Bakugou passed by with a glare that Izuku had grown immune to years ago and a poorly concealed expression confusion and anger swimming across his face. Bakugou had more or less left Izuku alone since Izuku's training with All Might had started.

Looks like Bakugou didn't know how to handle a version of Izuku that didn't cower. Too bad for him. He'd have to get used to it.

Izuku turned his gaze back to U.A. only somewhat disenchanted from that brief encounter. Not even Bakugou could ruin this moment for him.

With purpose in his heart and fire in his soul, Izuku took his first steps to U.A.

And then promptly tripped over nothing.

 _Nice to know that I'll be starting the entrance exam with anything between a broken nose and a concussion_ , Izuku thought. Except Izuku never hit the ground. He just… floated.

And then a girl with the softest, most adorable face he had ever seen leaned into his vision. "Are you okay?"

… Wow. This was new.

The girl gently pulled him back down so that his feet were planted on the ground once more before releasing her Quirk's grip from him. Izuku felt gravity start working for him again. Now _that_ was an awesome Quirk. She would make a great hero.

"It's my Quirk!" the girl told him, "Sorry for using it without asking, but it would be very bad luck to trip and fall right before the exam!"

Maybe if Izuku weren't as cold and jaded as he was now, he would have been silent, his tongue tied in knots from the fact that such an adorable and kind person was talking to him. However, he had years of abuse from the hands of Bakugou to keep him alert and somewhat detached. That didn't mean he wasn't still flustered, though.

"Y-yeah, that would have been awful," Izuku said, "I can't imagine doing well after face-planting in front of the school. Thank you."

The girl's face, somehow, became even more cheerful. "Yeah, of course! The exam is nerve-wracking enough without something like that happening beforehand. That being said, best of luck to both of us!"

Izuku managed to give her a genuine smile. "I'll see you at U.A. then."

The girl grinned at him and then resumed heading into the school. After a few more moments of standing there like an idiot, Izuku followed her in.

That could have gone better, but it wasn't anywhere near the worst thing that could have happened. Of course, any pleasantness was completely crushed by the fact that he had to sit next to Bakugou for the opening speech.

Izuku was sensing a pattern forming here. He did _not_ appreciate it.

He was quickly distracted from his enemy by Present Mic sauntering onto the stage. Izuku felt his little fanboy heart going wild in his chest.

"Welcome to today's live performance!" Present Mic boomed, "Everybody say 'Hey'!"

Izuku desperately wanted to cry out because _holy hell Present Mic_ but he restrained himself at the last second when he realized that no one else was going to respond. What the hell had happened to these kids that made them so ambivalent to a Pro Hero?

Present Mic seemed unsurprised and forged on with his speech, just as high energy in real life as he was on his radio show. Izuku only realized that he was muttering in pure admiration when Bakugou hissed at him to "shaddup."

When Present Mic started talking about assigned locations, Bakugou turned to Izuku for some unfathomable reason.

"That's so kids from the same middle school can't help each other out, yeah?" Bakugou asked.

… There was no way that Izuku was going to answer that seriously. If Bakugou was expecting an actual answer then he was delusional.

"No, it's so that Cthulhu's sacrifices are organized in such a way that he can easily consume us," Izuku said, completely deadpan.

The look on Bakugou's face was actually pretty amusing. "You're fucking lucky that we aren't going to be in the same testing location as you or I would fucking crush you."

Izuku decided that it wasn't worth deigning Bakugou with a reply and turned his full attention back to Present Mic. He was going over the "faux villains" in each exam location now. The premise was simple enough; destroy robots to earn points, with different point totals earned for different robots. There was a fourth robot pictured on the handout, but Izuku was sure that Present Mic would get around to explaining it soon enough and, if he didn't, then Izuku could wait for the end to ask him about it.

The broad-shouldered kid with glasses on a few rows ahead of him apparently did not reach that conclusion.

"May I ask a question?" Glasses stood up, his shoulders squared back. "There appear to be no fewer than _four_ varieties of faux villains—"

Izuku stopped listening after that. Did this guy not understand that Present Mic was likely holding back on an explanation for later? Likely due to dramatic flair?

And then Glasses whipped around and pointed an accusing finger at Izuku. "And you, with the curly hair! You've been muttering this entire time! It's distracting! If this is some kind of game to you, then please leave immediately!"

Oh, wow. Izuku hadn't hated someone so much before in his life with the exception Bakugou. How _dare_ this arrogant, vindictive _brat_ of a student yell at Izuku in front of the entire auditorium about his muttering. Who the hell did he think he was?

Izuku was looking forward to seeing this boy's Quirk. He would be sure to take notes on how to leave him as crippled, useless, and pained as possible.

Wait. No. That was bad. Heroes did _not_ think like that. Bad Izuku.

Glasses seemed to be getting somewhat unnerved by Izuku just staring at him. Izuku wasn't sure of exactly what kind of expression was on his face at the moment, but if he had to take a guess then he would say it was something that was cold and searching, maybe even with a murderous edge to it. That would explain the baffled, uneasy look Glasses was giving him.

"Alright, Examinee seven-one-one-one, nice catch! Thanks!" Present Mic yelled, effectively breaking the tension between the two of them. Glasses turned back to listen to Present Mic's explanation.

Again, it was simple enough to understand. The examinees just needed to stay away from the giant zero-pointer and then they would be totally fine. Destroy the smaller robots and avoid the big one. Simple.

Except Izuku had no idea how to use his Quirk and had absolutely no experience fighting anything, let alone robots.

… This wasn't going to go well. Izuku could feel it in his bones.

Izuku took stock of all the students he could see heading with him to Area B. A few of them had Quirks that were immediately obvious, but most of them were impossible to guess. Izuku noticed that Glasses was also assigned to his test site. Too bad playing the "anti-hero", as Present Mic had put it, would render him disqualified. It didn't really matter, anyway. Izuku was not about to prioritize revenge over his chance of getting into U.A

While he was scanning the crowd, he noticed the girl who had saved him from eating dirt on the pavement at the front gates. He went over to thank her again and wish her the best of luck before the exam started for real.

Suddenly there was a hand clapping down on his shoulder. Izuku restrained a flinch while some distant, feral part of his mind urged him to _bite_ it as hard as he could.

Maybe the stress was getting to him more than he had originally thought.

Izuku looked over his shoulder to see the stern face of Glasses.

"What are you doing? Hoping to interfere?" Glasses accused. And suddenly the snickering of the students kicked up, whispering about how weird and _weak_ Izuku seemed to be.

Oh, Izuku was ready to make this boy _pay_.

"And… begin!"

It took Izuku a second to realize that Present Mic had called for them to start. He bolted. It took him another two seconds to realize that the other contestants in his group must not have understood the word "start" because they still hadn't _moved_.

A head start, then. Nice.

Izuku hadn't been moving for even thirty seconds when a robot with a bright "1" painted on its shield crashed through a building to face him down.

 _A one-pointer. Quick but fragile,_ Izuku thought. _Perfect._

The one-pointer's gun was the most immediately-threatening piece, but Izuku doubted that it would be used in an effective way. This was a test made for students by heroes, after all. The claw didn't seem capable of doing more than inflicting some blunt trauma which Izuku was more than used to.

Izuku had _years_ of spotting weaknesses under his belt as well as finding ways to exploit said weaknesses, so it didn't take long for Izuku to pinpoint the neck of the robot as its weak point. The neck was thinner than its other parts and, logically, taking off the head would disable the rest of it.

Hefting up a piece of rubble that he would not have been able to lift without All Might's training, Izuku charged. He dodged the claw that swung at him, the attack missing and breaking the pavement on contact. He made the short leap onto the shield. With only a few more quick, well-placed steps, Izuku found himself running up the arm of the robot and on its shoulder. He took the pavement in his hands and shoved it between where the head met the neck. Applying as much force as he possibly could, Izuku pushed down.

The head popped off with a screech of metal and a shower of sparks. The robot slumped and Izuku scrambled to get off of it without crashing to the ground. By some miracle, he managed to land on his feet. He took a second to catch his breath.

One point was hardly going to get him into U.A. but it was so much better than Izuku could have ever hoped for before meeting All Might.

Still, Izuku was already feeling fatigue looming over him. He wouldn't be able to keep up this kind of pace and it would be useless if all he could take out were one-pointers.

That's when he noticed Glasses fighting a three-pointer. It looked much more formidable than the one-pointer, but Izuku could tell it was on its last legs. All Izuku would need to do is push it over and then—

Izuku sprinted. Glasses seemed surprised by his sudden appearance, but that was unimportant. Izuku slammed his shoulder into the robot's already-damaged leg and the thing _snapped_. It toppled backwards, breaking on impact.

Why do all the hard work when he could steal points? God, Izuku couldn't believe he hadn't thought of that so much earlier.

Oh. Right. Not a heroic thing to do.

"Are you alright?" Izuku asked, turning to Glasses, genuine-sounding concern coloring his voice. "I'm sorry, it just looked like it was going to hurt you."

Glasses blinked. He looked completely floored. "Um. Yes! I am fine! Thank you for your assistance! But you should start earning points for yourself! Let the other students handle their own fights!" With that, the boy took off. That's when Izuku noticed the _metal pipes_ coming from the back of the boy's legs and the sound of a revving engine.

 _That must be Pro Hero Ingenium's younger brother,_ Izuku realized. Who knew that such a seemingly-kind Pro Hero would have such a stuck-up sibling? Oh well. Izuku had bigger problems to worry about right now. Like finding more points to steal.

And so the exam went, Izuku dropping in on other contestants at the last second and finishing off the robots they were fighting. It took precious seconds to get from one person to another, especially when there was no fight that looked like it was close to ending.

Izuku was proud of the points he had acquired. That one-pointer by himself, three two-pointers, and two three-pointers got him to a total of thirteen points. He was doing well.

And then, "Ugh, only twenty-eight points…"

"Forty-five points!"

"Thirty-two!"

 _Oh fuck me._

Izuku was screwed. There was no way he was going to be able to keep up with the other competitors unless he started getting more points _now_.

That was when one of the buildings toppled to reveal the biggest robot that Izuku had ever seen in his entire life.

 _That…_ Izuku thought, _That seems like way too_ much. _We're middle schoolers! What the hell!_

Izuku found himself temporarily frozen as other students raced past him, away from this behemoth, points all but forgotten. Izuku turned to follow them.

"Damn, damn, damn!" Izuku hissed, "I'm still only at thirteen points! This'll all be for _nothing_!"

"Ah!"

Izuku's head whipped back.

The girl from the front gates. Her legs were trapped under rubble.

 _"_ _It would be very bad luck to trip and fall right before the exam!"_

… Fuck it. It's not like Izuku had anything to lose at this point.

Izuku raced towards the zero-pointer. His mind wasn't racing like it normally did. No, it was entirely focused on stopping this _thing_ from hurting this girl. Nothing else outside of this mattered.

Suddenly Izuku was in the air, impossibly high.

 _"_ _Clench your butt and let your heart cry out!"_ All Might had said.

With a roar, Izuku activated his Quirk for the first time.

The zero-pointer _shattered_. It toppled backwards, crushing buildings beneath its bulk. Izuku distantly hoped that it hadn't landed on any of the other students.

Right now, though, Izuku was a bit more worried about the fact that he was free falling from _way too high up in the air_.

That was when pain like Izuku had never felt before ripped through both of his legs and his right arm. He looked back at his arm through the tears streaming from his eyes and saw that is was red and pulpy and bent at all of the _wrong angles_.

 _I know All Might told me to be ready for some "real kickback" but this is ridiculous!_

And now Izuku was going to die, amounting to nothing more than a bloody splatter on the pavement.

Wait. All Might's power could create incredibly powerful drafts of air. If Izuku timed it just right, he could save himself. Too early and he would be going too fast when he hit the ground anyway. Too late and the draft wouldn't be able to slow him down fast enough. He only had one shot at this. He clenched his left fist and—

Izuku was slapped in the face.

It was the girl. She was floating on a piece of one of the robots.

Izuku felt gravity stop working on his body once again and ended up floating less than a foot off of the ground.

"R-release," the girl gasped out shakily. She clapped her hands together and everything that was floating fell to the ground with a series of thuds. The girl promptly threw up.

Izuku could feel pain eating away at his consciousness. He wouldn't be awake for much longer.

 _Thirteen points,_ he thought as he gently let his head lay on the ground, _That's not too bad for a Quirkless Deku, is it Bakugou?_

Izuku closed his eyes and let black flood his senses.

* * *

Izuku was absolutely certain that he had failed.

Thirteen points was _nothing_. Sure, he had done well on the written portion, but what the hell did that matter with such a terrible score during the practical part of the exam?

All Might hadn't even contacted him. He must of realized just how useless Izuku was. Well, screw All Might! What did he know? He had only… helped Izuku train for ten months.

...

God, he was such a _failure_.

Mom was so proud of him, though. She was _always_ proud of him and she loved him so much. She was excited for him to receive his letter from U.A.

Izuku was dreading it.

"Izuku!" mom yelled as she can into the room, "Izuku, it's here! The letter! It's really here!"

Izuku quickly muttered out a thanks to his mother before taking the letter and heading into his room.

He tore it open, revealing a metal disc-shaped device that clattered onto his desk. Then the projection of All Might started playing.

Projection All Might started off by apologizing for the wait since there had been _"much to deliberate on."_ Yeah, right. Like Izuku's measly thirteen points had been the subject of hot debate.

The projection continued with All Might announcing that he would be attending U.A. as one of the teachers himself. Izuku felt jealousy swallow his heart. _No,_ he thought, _All Might is_ my _teacher_.

 _"_ _Even if you passed the written portion,"_ Project All Might said without any regard for Izuku, _"getting a low amount of points on the practical naturally results in failure."_

"No shit," Izuku hissed, furiously wiping tears from his eyes. No reason to be disappointed. He had known this was coming.

For some reason, telling himself that wasn't helping to mitigate the crushing pain in his heart.

 _"_ _But that's not the end of the story! Let me entertain you! Please direct your attention to the screen!"_

Izuku was then shown a video of the girl, the nice one with the soft face and the amazing zero-gravity Quirk, begging Present Mic for some of her points to be given to Izuku.

 _"_ _Before he turned to save me, he said that he only had thirteen points!"_ the girl in the video said, _"That can't be enough to get in! Please, give him at least however many points he gave up saving me! That boy… he saved my life!"_

Izuku felt himself tearing up all over again. All Might then went on to explain rescue points. He explained that Izuku's selfless actions of saving this girl and helping other students during the exam— _but I was only helping_ myself _then_ —had earned him seventy rescue points in addition to his thirteen villain points, for a grand total of eighty-three points. The girl—Uraraka Ochako, All Might had said—also got forty-five rescue points.

Izuku felt his heart beat hard in chest.

 _"_ _You're in. Come now, Midoriya. This is your hero academia!"_

Izuku couldn't stop his sobs even if he tried.


	3. Origins: Part III

Izuku received a text from All Might not too long after his tears had dried. All Might was asking to meet him at the beach. He hadn't said which one. Izuku didn't need him to.

Izuku threw on his vest and bid a hasty goodbye to his mom who was still so _proud_ of him and Izuku just loved her so _much_. And then he was out the door and running to the beach.

Izuku could still feel the comforting ache that the relief of his acceptance into U.A. brought him. He was once again flooded with both admiration and gratitude for All Might; the man had dedicated so much time and patience into Izuku and, somehow, it had paid off.

Izuku also needed to talk to All Might about how using One For All shattered his bones. That was absolutely essential to address. Especially since All Might hadn't mentioned it at all and Izuku was certain that All Might wouldn't deliberately put him in a situation like that without warning.

It didn't take too long for Izuku to reach the beach. He quickly spotted All Might's deflated form standing there, gazing at the dark water. Izuku almost called out to grab his attention and then immediately thought better of it. This was a fairly public setting and calling out All Might's name while the Number One Hero wasn't in his… inflated form seemed like a bad idea the more Izuku thought about it. Instead, he jogged across the sand over to All Might. Eventually, the man noticed him and a grin stretched across his skeletal face.

"Congrats on passing," All Might said, "and as the top contestant, too!"

Izuku blinked. "What?"

"Ah, did I not mention it in the recording?" All Might asked, "You ranked in first place of the contestants with eighty-three points. It is a most impressive accomplishment!"

Izuku had been first. Even while using a Quirk that he hadn't even had for twenty-four hours with only ten months of training to his name, Izuku had ranked in first place.

That meant that he had defeated Bakugou.

Bakugou had _lost_ to _him_.

Izuku's quest for vengeance was far from over, but this was certainly a wonderful step in the right direction. Oh, Bakugou was going to be absolutely _furious_. Izuku couldn't suppress his grin. What he _did_ do was take away the sinister edge of it. It would do him no good for All Might to learn of his less-than-heroic thoughts.

"That's amazing!" Izuku exclaimed, his joy lacking any artifice. "I couldn't have done it without you, All Might!"

"Your soul is a strong one, young Midoriya," All Might said, "I'm sure that you would have found a way. All I did was set you on the right path and assist with your training. You did everything else all on your own! I was not a judge nor did I tell the school of our relationship; you succeeded purely on your merit. I cannot begin to tell you how proud I am of you."

Izuku was ready to cry all over again at that. Instead, he took a deep breath. "So you're going to be teaching at U.A.? It was surprising to hear that. And, considering that, it makes more sense that we're meeting here instead of your regular office at—"

"Stop."

Izuku's mouth clicked shut.

"I was not allowed to tell the public about my position as a teacher until the school allowed me to. I had figured that I could take the position at U.A. while I searched for my successor."

Izuku couldn't have asked for a better segue. "Why is it that I can't seem to wield One For All without breaking my body from a single punch or kick?"

All Might gave a wet cough. "That's just how it is. If someone suddenly grew a tail overnight then they wouldn't be able to use it as if they had always had it attached to them."

Izuku looked up at his mentor. "... You didn't know that this would happen, did you?"

All Might's gaze shifted to the side, breaking eye contact with Izuku. "There… wasn't enough time to explain everything, but no, I didn't think that using that Quirk would cause you so much damage. Maybe a sprained arm or some such injury, but not… shattering your body. I am glad that everything turned out all right in the end. Or, should I say, All _Might_!"

Izuku couldn't help but snort at that. God, who knew that the Number One Hero was such a dork?

"That is something that we will have to work on, though," All Might continued, "For now, your Quirk is going to be all or nothing. With enough training, you will be able to regulate the power that you put out so you don't harm yourself while using it. And, the stronger that you become, the better a vessel you will be, which will naturally lead to you being able to better control your power. Like _this._ "

Part way through speaking, All Might had grabbed an empty, discarded soda can from the sand. When he spoke his last word, he inflated into the iconic hero that the world was familiar with and crushed the can in his huge hand.

Izuku desperately wanted that kind of power; the power to be in control, to crush all of his enemies before him, to _obliterate_ Bakugou. This was the sort of power that most people could only ever dream about and here it was, humming just below the surface of Izuku's skin.

Izuku would master One For All. He would train his Quirk and his body, wielding them like finely tuned instruments of destruction and heroism. With All Might by his side and this Quirk Izuku's to claim, he could do _anything_.

"Wow, is that All Might? Where did he come from?" a pedestrian on the beach exclaimed.

"Crap," All Might said, his blank voice an almost amusing juxtaposition to his smiling face.

And then, with All Might in the lead, the two of them marched on off.

* * *

It was the week after the entrance exam that Bakugou grabbed Izuku by the collar of his uniform and slammed him into the school wall. Izuku felt the familiar ache in his shoulders and back that came with it.

"What dirty tricks did you use to do it, you Quirkless twerp!" Bakugou snarled into his face. "I was supposed to be the first from our school and the highest ranked student! You've taken my plan and torn it to shreds!"

" _Good_ ," Izuku hissed.

"The fuck did you just say to me?" Bakugou growled.

"Did your explosions suddenly make you go deaf?" Izuku snapped. "I said ' _good._ ' I'm happy that I ruined your plans, you pathetic excuse for a Pomeranian."

Izuku would never get tired of the look of complete bewilderment that stole across Bakugou's face whenever he stopped putting up with his shit.

Izuku took advantage of Bakugou's off-balance state and grabbed the arm pinning him to the wall and throwing it off of him. "Listen well, _Kacchan_ , because I'm only going to say this once: I am not going to put up with you and your shit anymore. I'm not the Quirkless kid that followed you around like a blind lamb anymore. I am going to be a hero—the best one ever—and there is nothing that you can do to stop me. Try this at U.A. and I will not hesitate to inform a teacher. And believe me, U.A. has a _very_ strict no-bullying policy. Zero-tolerance, actually. So if I were you, I would watch myself."

"Are…" Bakugou seemed more confused than ever before, "are you… threatening me?"

Izuku grinned, a twisted thing that frayed around the edges. He eagerly took note of how Bakugou's eyes widened. "Of course I am, Kacchan. Now, if you'll excuse me, I have a life that doesn't involve bullying others to satisfy my own inferiority complex. Have an absolutely terrible day."

Izuku walked away with his back to Bakugou. While he was on high alert in case Bakugou actually _did_ try to attack, Izuku was fairly sure that he wouldn't try anything.

Izuku made it all the way home without any trouble.

* * *

Izuku was a mess of nerves and excitement as spring came in gentle and warm. Every day brought him close and closer to his first day at U.A. His first day of his hero academia.

The day seemed to take forever to arrive and, when it did, Izuku didn't sleep for the whole night beforehand. He had been filled with far too much nervous energy to even consider sleeping. He had rolled out of bed five minutes before his alarm had even gone off.

His mom had been brimming with love and kindness, tears in her eyes as she saw Izuku off. Izuku had felt his own eyes burn in response. She was just so happy for him and she had always stood by his side. Izuku hadn't been able to stop himself from dashing towards her and engulfing her in a hug.

"I am so _proud_ of you, Izuku," she had whispered, "I always knew that you could do it."

"I love you, mom," Izuku had said.

"And I love you, too, sweetie," she had said with a watery smile, "Now go and show the rest of the world just how amazing you are."

And here he was now, trotting through U.A. in search of classroom 1-A.

He eventually found the giant door and simply stood outside of it for a moment. Izuku took a deep breath in.

"You can do this, Izuku muttered to himself, "You placed first in the entrance exam. In this room will be the best of the best. You'll have to work hard, but you can do it."

With that, Izuku pushed the door open.

He was immediately affronted with the stern, irritated voice of Glasses and the grating sound that Bakugou's vocal chords made whenever the boy spoke.

Well, having the two of them in the same class with him would certainly prove to be annoying, but Izuku could use this to his advantage. More time around them would mean more time to find weaknesses to exploit, better ways to bring them both to their _knees_ —

Nope. Not how a hero would think. Better stop that.

Glasses and Bakugou seemed to be arguing over Bakugou's foot being on the desk. Bakugou also appeared to be making threats. All in all, Izuku couldn't say that he was surprised at all.

Then Glasses' attention shifted to Izuku. He started marching on over.

 _Oh fuck me_ , Izuku thought, _What does he want now?_

Glasses stopped in front of him. Izuku just barely stopped himself from flinching as Glasses swung his arm out quickly before he realized that the other boy was only making sharp, quick gestures with his hands while speaking.

"I'm from Somei Private Academy," he said, his movements punctuating his syllables, "My name is Iida Tenya."

… Well. An introduction was nice, at least. Izuku fixed his face with as neutral an expression as he could muster. "Midoriya Izuku."

Glasses— _Iida_ wasn't going to be getting anything more than that. He didn't _deserve_ it.

"Midoriya-kun," Iida continued, "I must apologize for misjudging you so terribly!"

… _Huh?_

"You perceived the true nature of the exam while I did not! You dedicated your time fully to helping others and showed the true spirit of a hero! While I hate to say it, I must admit that you were the superior candidate!" Iida finished, his fist clenching by his side and a determined expression falling over his face.

Ignoring that whole "perceiving the true nature of the exam" thing, Izuku could not believe what was happening. Having grown up without friends and no support from anyone who wasn't his mom or All Might, Izuku was not familiar with anyone but those two being decent to him, let alone feeling enough regret and guilt to actually go out of their way and apologize to him.

Izuku was touched. He understood that he probably shouldn't have been nearly as moved as he was, but that was alright.

Izuku wasn't ready to count Iida as a friend quite yet, not after that terrible first impression, but he would certainly be open to that possibility in the future.

Izuku was also going to have to start marking out some of the crueler methods of neutralizing Iida from his journals. It wouldn't do to keep notes on how to cripple potential friends.

"Well, it's a pleasure to meet you formally, Iida-kun. But, uh, I didn't really perceive anything at all," Izuku admitted. A little bit of the truth wouldn't hurt, right? "I was just doing what I thought was best."

Iida's hands limply fell to his sides. And then he was back to swinging them around again with even more enthusiasm. "Are you saying that you were assisting the other contestants because it was simply the right thing to do? That is even more admirable! With no regard for anything but your fellow students, that truly is the mark of a great hero!"

Holy hell, Izuku was going to blush if Iida kept giving him such heartfelt compliments in such a blunt manner.

"Thank you," Izuku said, "I really appreciate you saying that."

Iida smiled tentatively.

"Ah that curly hair!" a cheery voice from behind Izuku exclaimed. He turned around to see the nice girl—what had the recording of All Might said her name was? Uraraka?—standing behind him. "You're the plain-looking boy!"

Izuku flashed a hesitant smile. "Ah, yeah, that's me. It's good to see you here."

Uraraka beamed at him. "You got in, just like Present Mic said! It makes total sense, though. That punch was so awesome!"

"Oh. Thank you for saying so," Izuku replied, "I still need to get a handle on my Quirk, though. And you were amazing, too! Your Quirk is so unique and useful!"

"That's so nice of you to say," Uraraka said sunnily, "Oh, right! I forget to introduce myself. I'm Uraraka Ochako! And you're Midoriya Izuku, right?"

"Yeah. It's great to finally introduce myself to you," Izuku replied. And, just because he was in a particularly good mood right now, Izuku decided to be generous. "Uraraka, this is Iida Tenya. He was in our test group and his Quirk is amazing!"

"Thank you, Midoriya-kun. I am honored to have received such praise from you!" Iida said, "It is wonderful to make your acquaintance, Uraraka-san!"

"It's great to meet you too, Iida-kun!" Uraraka said, "I'm so excited for everything today! We've got our entrance ceremony and guidance sessions today, don't we? I wonder what our teacher'll be like, too. It's all so nerve-wracking."

"If you're here to socialize, then get out."

The three of them all turned their attention to the floor of the hallway where the new, gruff voice had come from. There, on the tiled floor, was the most tired-looking man that Izuku had ever seen in his life. He was wrapped in a yellow sleeping bag that made him look like an oversized caterpillar. Something about him struck Izuku as familiar.

"This is," he said, as he took out a juice pouch from somewhere inside his sleeping bag, "the Hero Course."

With smooth, fluid grace that reminded Izuku of a panther, the man stood up and slid the sleeping bag off of himself. Now that Izuku had a better look at him, he noticed the white, bandage-like scarves around his neck, the black clothing that adorned his body, and the eyes that seemed to remain unblinking.

While he couldn't be certain, given the lack of information available on a certain underground Pro Hero, Izuku was willing to place a bet on who this man was.

"It took eight seconds for you to quiet down," he continued, "Time is a precious resource. You lot aren't very rational, are you?"

No one spoke a word.

"I'm your homeroom teacher, Aizawa Shouta. Pleased to meet you," Aizawa said. He then reached into his sleeping bag and pulled out what appeared to be several U.A. gym uniforms and held them out to the class. "Quickly now. Change into these and head onto the training grounds."

* * *

Izuku took stock of the training grounds that Aizawa had led them to. It looked the same as the grounds at middle school used for standard gym tests. Izuku had a feeling that he knew what was going to happen here.

"We're going to be testing your Quirks," Aizawa told them in a monotone voice.

"What about the entrance ceremony?" Uraraka asked, "And our guidance sessions?"

"You have no time to waste on that stuff if you want to become heroes," Aizawa answered blankly. Uraraka looked somewhat uneasy from the response.

"U.A. is known for its 'freestyle' educational system. That includes us teachers as well," Aizawa said, "Softball throwing, the standing long jump, the fifty-meter dash, endurance running, grip strength, side-to-side stepping, upper body training, and the seated toe touch: you did all of these in middle school. Your standard no-Quirks-allowed tests."

Aizawa went on for a while longer and Izuku was certainly listening, but he got the picture. This would be an all out test of their abilities, Quirks and all, just as he had thought.

Izuku had been working on an idea on how to use One For All without turning his bones into pulp. He hadn't tested it yet, seeing as how he didn't have access to Recovery Girl's assistance and didn't want to be left with broken bones. Now would be the perfect time to see if it would work. And if it didn't… well. Recovery Girl was certainly on campus _somewhere_.

Izuku watched as Bakugou sent the ball flying with his explosion. It was impressive. Fairly clever, as well. As much as Izuku was loath to admit it, Bakugou was fairly smart. There was a reason that Bakugou was top of the class. Izuku planned to change that this year.

"Whoa, this is awesome!" a student with spiky red hair and shark teeth exclaimed, "We can use our Quirks for real! The Hero Course is so manly!"

Izuku immediately noticed the shift in Aizawa's posture. It was minute but Izuku had years of experience in reading other people and their mood shifts thanks to the constant bullying. He always had to know the best way to avoid angering others and reading their cues in order to come out as unharmed as possible.

"Awesome and manly, you say?" Aizawa muttered, "You're hoping to become heroes after three years here and you think it'll be all fun and games?"

If Izuku hadn't built an immunity to terrifying looks before this moment, he was certain that the expression on Aizawa's face would have sent him running off.

"Right," Aizawa went on, "The student with the lowest score across all eight events will be judged as hopeless and will be expelled."

They was a wave of outrage and indignation from the class. One girl with her long black hair pulled into a ponytail was quick to say that it was obviously a lie.

Izuku knew liars. He knew when someone was bluffing and when they meant to follow through with their words.

Aizawa was _not_ bluffing.

 _Well_ , Izuku thought, _guess this is do-or-die then._

Aizawa easily deflected any and all complaints and outbursts about his decision, giving a speech that essentially boiled down to "life is unfair, get over it" before calling the rest of the students up for the softball throw.

Izuku hardly paid attention to the others. He needed to use his Quirk without breaking his bones. Implementing his idea would be a huge risk, but he would have to take it. There was no way he could come in last place. He had come too far just for a man with dry eye to expel him from his dream school.

He watched as Uraraka threw the ball into infinity alongside of Iida. The boy seemed nervous.

"What is it?" Izuku asked. He was curious because he highly doubted that Iida was in any danger of being in last place, but he was mostly looking for a quick distraction from his own thoughts.

"I don't have my Engines in my arms," Iida told him, "I won't be able to use my Quirk to throw the softball."

Izuku stared at him. "So kick it, then."

"Is… is that allowed?" Iida asked hesitantly.

Izuku shrugged. "Aizawa-sensei said that the only rule was that you couldn't leave the circle. He never said anything about not using your arms."

"... You're right," Iida said, "Working around the rules like that is very clever! Thank you, Midoriya-kun!"

Izuku gave him a small smile. "It's no problem."

Iida went up next. He kicked the softball and earned himself an admirable score.

Then Izuku was up.

He took a deep breath as he stood in the circle. One For All was powerful enough to break his bones. He couldn't just regulate it quite yet, only outputting half or one quarter or five percent of his power. But… if Izuku was able to do the equivalent of "twitching" the power, causing it to come in a short, cut-off burst…

It wouldn't be as powerful and it would require a lot of concentration and perfect timing, but it (hopefully) wouldn't break his bones while using his Quirk.

And so Izuku decided to test it out.

Winding back and bracing for the pain of shattering his arm just in case he failed, Izuku threw the ball.

He knew what had happened the moment he didn't feel the buzz of One For All beneath his skin.

"I—"

"You erased my Quirk," Izuku said. Aizawa's red eyes stared at him, his hair floating as if touched by Uraraka's Quirk. "You're the underground Pro Hero, Eraserhead. I knew it."

"... Well," Aizawa said, "No one can say that you didn't do your research. That ridiculous entrance exam is completely irrational considering some kids with all brawns and no brains can get in. I saw how you lacked control over your Quirk. You'll just incapacitate yourself again if you use it. Are you expecting someone to just step in an help you afterwards?"

Aizawa began stalking towards him. Izuku quickly dropped into a fighting stance and began backing up as quickly as he could while still maintaining his balance. Aizawa's eyes widened further as Izuku shuffled back, almost like he was surprised that a looming Pro Hero who was marching towards a student would be _intimidating_.

"Doing that to yourself will inconvenience everyone around you," Aizawa said, "You cannot become a hero with that power of yours."

The red leaked out of Aizawa's eyes and his hair and capture weapons drifted back down, affected by gravity once more. "You've got your Quirk back now. Let's get this over with."

Izuku turned his attention back to the task at hand.

"You can do this," Izuku muttered to himself, winding up the pitch. "You have to. You can do this. Using my Quirk like I did before in the entrance exam won't work. I won't become a hero if I keep using it like that. Which means I'll use it another way!"

Izuku activated his Quirk for less than half a second just as the ball was about to leave his hand. He felt power surge through his arm in a short burst, sending the ball flying. His arm _ached_ as he felt his bones protest against the strain, but they were decidedly _not broken,_ thank god.

Izuku wasn't able to tell how far the ball had gone, but he knew it was a lot better than he would have _ever_ done without One For All.

"Hey, Aizawa-sensei," Izuku said, turning to face his teacher, "I can still _move_."

Izuku saw something not dissimilar to a smile pull at Aizawa's face as he turned his device around.

It read "319.4 m".

Izuku grinned.

"What the _hell?_ Explain yourself, Deku!"

Izuku turned to see Bakugou racing towards him, explosions rocketing him forward.

 _An excuse to punch Bakugou's face_ , Izuku thought, _This must be my lucky day._

Aizawa's capture weapons flew to restrain Bakugou before he could get into melee range, his Quirk cancelling out Bakugou's. Izuku watched Bakugou struggled helplessly against the bindings, making sure to keep any hint of satisfaction off of his face as Aizawa lectured him.

"What a waste of time," Aizawa sighed, "Let's move on to the next event already."

* * *

The rest of the exam went surprisingly well for Izuku.

Using his new Burst technique, he was able to complete the 50-meter dash in 5.79 seconds even with a small slip-up, firing it off too early for the one step. He had still been slower than Bakugou's time from middle school, but it was a marked improvement from Izuku's own time of 7.49 seconds. Izuku also managed to get a decent standing long jump score, propelling himself with Burst.

Burst was no good for maintaining his grip strength during that test, nor was it at all useful for the seated toe touch. Izuku didn't have need or want of it during the endurance running test either; his training with All Might had left Izuku with a stamina that was in the upper half of the class. Side-to-side stepping and the upper body strength training fell under the same umbrella as the endurance testing.

By the end of the testing, Izuku's body _ached_. Burst taxed his body, forming bruises on Izuku's skin, almost spraining him. Izuku hadn't done the best in the class—that would be Yaoyorozu, the girl with the creation Quirk—but he was at _least_ better than the incredibly small, perverted kid with the… sticky balls on his head.

"Alright, time for the results," Aizawa said, "Your total scores simply reflect your performance in each event. Explaining the ranks you get would be a waste of time, so whatever comes up is final."

Aizawa clicked the button on the device, causing a hologram to shimmer in the air. "Oh, and I was lying about expelling someone."

… _What?_

"This was all simply a _logical ruse_ to get you to do your absolute best."

"Well of course it was a lie," Yaoyorozu said as Iida and Uraraka exploded with indignation, "Didn't take much to figure it out."

 _She's wrong,_ Izuku thought. Aizawa had _not_ been lying beforehand.

Which meant…

Aizawa had changed his mind. None of them were deemed hopeless in the man's eyes.

Izuku looked at the ranking.

Seventeenth place. He was close to the bottom, but he wasn't the worst in the class.

 _Not bad for a technique I only just used today with a Quirk I've had for about three weeks._

"Here," Aizawa said, holding out a slip of paper to Izuku, "Go and see Recovery Girl. You'll need it for tomorrow's trials."

Izuku took the slip. And with that, Aizawa turned his back to the class and walked away.

* * *

Izuku felt absolutely exhausted as he started heading home for the day. Recovery Girl's Quirk was a godsend, but it left him feeling drained and tired. Still, it was preferable to being injured for however long it would take to naturally heal.

A hand clapped down on his shoulder. "Midoriya-kun!"

Izuku stopped himself from jumping at the sudden contact. "Iida-kun. Hi."

"How are you feeling?" Iida asked.

"Oh," Izuku said, "Uh, I feel fine."

Having people other than his mom and All Might care about his well-being was still just so _new_ to him.

"Aizawa-sensei sure fooled us!" Iida said, "He made me think 'this must be how it is at the top!' but… to have an instructor lie to us like that…"

"I don't think he was lying," Izuku said. Iida fixed him with a curious gaze. "I… I can usually tell when people are lying. I felt like Aizawa-sensei was definitely telling the truth earlier but then he just… changed his mind."

"... Oh," Iida said.

"Hey!"

The two of them turned to see Uraraka trotting over to them. "Are you two headed to the station? Wait up!"

"Ah, Uraraka-san," Iida greeted.

"Great job today Iida-kun and Deku-kun!" Uraraka said.

Izuku felt ice crawl down his spine. _No. Let this be a misunderstanding. Please._

"Ah," Izuku started, "'Deku' is a name that Bakugou calls me to bully me and call me worthless."

"A derogatory nickname?" Iida said, "How awful!"

"Ah, gotcha! Sorry!" Uraraka apologized. _Again with the apologies!_ "But Deku sounds like 'dekiru'! It feels like it's saying 'never give up'!"

Izuku wasn't a fan of being called Deku and he was fairly certain that he never would be. But so long as Uraraka called him that name with that association behind it? Oh, Bakugou would _hate_ that.

Perfect.

"I guess it's fine if you call me Deku, then," Izuku said, "So long as that's what you mean when you say it."

"But didn't you just say that it was an insult?" Iida asked.

"Sometimes words have different meanings depending on who is saying them and how," Izuku said, "'Deku' is an insult when Bakugou says it, but it's kind and encouraging when Uraraka-chan says it. It might take a while to get used to it, but the feelings behind it are more important to me than the actual word itself. So… it's fine if Uraraka-chan calls me Deku sometimes."

"Wow!" Uraraka exclaimed, "That was such a cool way of saying that, Deku-kun! You must be really smart!"

"Well—"

"I agree," Iida said, "It was Midoriya-kun who suggested that I kick the ball during the Quirk assessment test. I don't think that I would have come to that conclusion on my own!"

In that moment, Izuku came to a realization.

 _Friends. These two are my friends now._

The warm, fuzzy feeling that came along with that knowledge stuck with Izuku for the rest of the day.

 _I don't think that I've ever had real friends before. Not that I can remember clearly._

 _…_

 _I like it._


	4. Origins: Part IV

Izuku was even more excited for his second day at U.A. than he had been for his first one. The first day hadn't gone how he thought it would have but everything had turned out well in the end. He hadn't been expelled and… well.

For the first time since he was four, Izuku had friends. People besides his mom and All Might cared for him. Izuku could hardly remember being close with someone his age. It filled him with a feeling that was unfamiliar, whether it was due to not feeling it for so long or never feeling it in the first place, but he craved more of it. He wanted it almost as much as he wanted to _grind Bakugou to dust beneath his feet_ —

Izuku _really_ needed to stop thinking things like that. That was _not_ what his mom and All Might would want going through his mind. They wouldn't want Izuku to feel or think that way.

It would take time to change his mentality. For now, though, he needed to focus on keeping those thoughts _private._

He didn't want to scare off his new friends, after all.

* * *

English with Present Mic wasn't exactly exciting, no matter how hard the man had tried. However, Izuku had dutifully paid attention and consistently answered Present Mic's questions correctly when prompted by his teacher. By the end of the class, Present Mic had praised him and thanked him for "being such an awesome listener, yeah!" That compliment alone was enough to send Izuku's heart flying high.

When they went for lunch, Izuku could hardly believe the quality of the food. It _far_ surpassed what he could have gotten at middle school and it was at such a low price, too! Nothing would ever beat his mom's cooking, of course, but Izuku would not mind eating the food here.

And they had a Pro Hero as a chef! _Lunch Rush_ was the cook! Izuku couldn't believe it. It was just so _awesome_.

It was also nice to eat in the cafeteria with _actual friends_ for once. Uraraka was bright and bubbly, always talking about something or other and actively engaging people in the conversation. She was just so nice and there was never a dull moment with her. Iida, in the space of twenty-four hours, had redeemed himself in Izuku's eyes. The boy hadn't been trying to be cruel or antagonistic during the entrance exam. No, Izuku had quickly realized that Iida was just serious and didn't really know how to interact with people his age. Sure, he came off as stern and pompous at first, but that was so easy to look past when you saw how much he _cared_ about _everything_ , whether it be his friends, heroes, or schoolwork.

The two of them were lively, easily directing conversation between the three of them. Izuku, still not used to being actively included, chimed in whenever he had something to add, but otherwise just listened. When he spoke, Uraraka and Iida gave him their full attention and listened to everything he said and then building off of it, like Izuku's contributions _mattered_ to them.

Izuku absolutely loved it.

When lunch ended the students of 1-A were headed back for their afternoon class, everyone chattering excitedly.

"What do you think Foundational Hero Studies will be like?" the boy with the spiky red hair and the hardening Quirk—Kirishima, Izuku recalled—asked.

"Whatever it is, I hope it's even more awesome than Aizawa-sensei's class!" That was Ashido, the pink girl with the acid Quirk. "And I hope it's less scary!"

Izuku's eyes scanned over the other students. They already seemed to be forming their own little cliques like he did with Uraraka and Iida. The only students that didn't seem to have drifted to one group or another were Mineta and Todoroki. From what Izuku had seen of Mineta yesterday, that made perfect sense. Who would _want_ to hang out with a disgusting pervert like him? Todoroki, on the other hand…

Todoroki was fairly attractive from an objective standpoint and his Quirk was incredibly powerful. Izuku had no idea what his limits were and he was itching to find out. It was also incredibly curious that during the Quirk assessment test that Todoroki had only used the ice half of his Quirk, even when fire would have been more effective. Izuku was intrigued.

"Wow, you mutter a lot!"

Izuku was jolted out of his thoughts—his rambling, damn it—by Uraraka's cheery voice. "Ah, sorry. I just got lost in my head."

"There's nothing wrong with becoming immersed in deep thought!" Iida said, his hands moving in their usual, jerky motions. "And your musings are incredibly interesting! I did not even think about how Todoroki-kun didn't use the part of his Quirk that would be better suited for certain aspects of the test. It is quite curious indeed!"

"... thanks," Izuku breathed. His ramblings had only ever been annoying or disruptive to others before this, being tolerable at the very best. To have someone just… say they enjoyed it?

Izuku was flattered.

"It is pretty interesting, but I think it's a mystery for another day," Uraraka said. "Right now I'm really looking forward to our class! I wonder who the teacher'll be for this one?"

Izuku had a feeling that he knew who the teacher would be. It would make perfect sense for him to teach this class in particular.

Eventually, everyone reached the classroom and took their seats. Then they waited. Soon enough, Izuku could hear the dull thumping of confident, heavy footsteps. There was only one person Izuku knew would walk like that.

Sure enough, the door soon flew open and All Might, dressed in his Silver Age costume, grabbed the sides of the doorframe to lean chest-first into the room in the most ridiculous fashion Izuku had ever seen, shouting, "Here I am! Coming through the door like a normal person!"

Izuku slapped a hand over his mouth to stop himself from breaking out in a fit of laughter. All Might _absolutely_ knew how to go through a door normally and here he was, just… doing _this_.

 _What a_ dork, Izuku thought fondly.

Izuku didn't pay much mind to the delighted chattering from the other students. No, he only had eyes for All Might, the man who was the reason Izuku was even in U.A.

Izuku swore to himself that he would be the best student All Might had ever had.

All Might, now inside the classroom, knelt down on one knee and began flexing. "Foundational Hero Studies! The class that will put you through all sorts of special training to mold you into heroes! No time to dally! Today's activity is this! Battle training!"

Izuku could hardly _wait._

* * *

Izuku was the last one out after changing into his hero costume. He knew that in comparison to what the support company could have made him that his costume was likely subpar. But his mom had made him this costume, pouring her heart and soul and _love_ into it. Izuku couldn't just _not_ wear it even if it wouldn't enhance his abilities or provide much protection. That was hardly of any importance when taking in how much he loved his mom into account.

The safest thing to do? Certainly not. But it felt _right._

"Deku-kun, that's an awesome costume!" Uraraka said when he had finally come outside. "It's so practical looking!"

"Ah, thank you Uraraka-chan." Izuku was going to need to get used to spontaneous compliments from her and Iida or he was going to explode with giddiness or, even worse, _blush._ "Your outfit is really neat, too! I love the design and the colors."

"Oh my god, you do? That's so nice of you to say!" Uraraka said, "I just wish that I had been more specific on my request form. This suit is just too tight in some places…"

Izuku narrowed his eyes. _The hell kind of company does that to a fifteen-year-old girl's hero costume?_

Izuku noticed Mineta staring at Uraraka. The _fucking grape gremlin_ was eying her up. Izuku desperately wanted to deck him in the face. He settled for _accidentally_ tripping him when no one was looking.

"Sensei!" Iida called out not too long after, "This appears to be the same field used in the entrance exam! Will the today's lesson be similar to that?"

As Iida spoke in his typical, formal manner, Izuku took in his friend's costume. It made Iida look like a futuristic knight of sorts, leaving Izuku with the overall feeling of justice and protection. There was also the fact that costume was very obvious riffing off of Ingenium's own hero costume, further confirming for Izuku that Iida was the younger brother of Ingenium.

"Nope!" All Might's booming voice rang out, interrupting Izuku's musings, "You'll be moving on to step two! Indoor anti-personnel battle training!"

 _…_ _That sure is a fancy way of saying that we'll be simulating villain fights inside of buildings._

"Villain battles are most commonly seen outdoors, but statistically, the most heinous of villains are likely to appear _in_ doors," All Might continued. He went on for awhile longer, Izuku listening closely to his every word.

All Might concluded, "You'll now be split into _villain_ teams and _hero_ teams and face off in two-on-two indoor battles!"

The class erupted into questions. Izuku patiently waited for them to calm down and proceeded to listen to the rest of All Might's explanation of the training exercise. It would be an interesting test of sorts, almost like a game of keepaway in some sense. The "hero" team needed to attack and the "villain" team needed to defend something other than themselves, both of which were likely regular objectives for heroes.

"Your battle partners will be determined by…" All Might paused dramatically here, "drawing lots!"

"Is that really the best way?" Iida asked.

"It makes sense," Izuku said, "As heroes we won't always have the luxury of planning beforehand. Pros often have to team up on the spot with heroes from other agencies when there's an emergency."

"That is a remarkable point, Midoriya-kun! Thank you!" Iida turned back to All Might. "I apologize for getting ahead of myself! My mistake!"

"It's fine!" All Might said, pumping a fist into the air, "Let's just get to it!"

With that, All Might began drawing teams.

"On Team A… Uraraka Ochako and Midoriya Izuku!"

"Huh." Izuku turned to face Uraraka with a smile. "This is pretty great luck, wouldn't you say?"

"I say this must be fate!" Uraraka beamed, "I'm so glad that I'm partners with you, Deku-kun! We'll do great!"

All Might continued to call out teams. When he announced that Team D would consist of Iida and Bakugou, Izuku cast a pitying glance at Iida. No one should have to put up with Bakugou, especially not someone who was Izuku's friend.

When Iida turned and saw the look Izuku was giving him, he simply flashed Izuku a determined smile and a jerky thumbs up.

 _Oh yeah. Iida is_ way _too good for Bakugou._

Once all the teams had been decided, All Might brought out two large boxes, one labeled "HERO" and the other "VILLAIN". He stuck a hand in each one.

"Up first will be… these!" All Might pulled two balls with letters painted on them.

"The Heroes are Team A!" All Might roared, "The Villains are Team D!"

Izuku felt his mind go blank for half a second before it kicked back up into a frenzy. _I get to fight Bakugou in a school-sanctioned event. I get to fight him. I get to hurt him. I am being encouraged to do so._

 _Holy shit, I_ love _the Hero Course._

Izuku wouldn't do that to Iida, though. Opposite teams or not, Iida was a friend and Izuku had already decided that Iida was not on his shit-list. He had crossed Iida's name out from it and everything.

As Bakugou and Iida left to go and set up, Izuku turned to Uraraka.

"Bakugou hates me," Izuku told her bluntly, "He has bullied me for years and I kind of just stopped putting up with his garbage a few weeks ago, so he's probably going to come after me instead of focusing on the objective. I'll distract him and draw him away from you while you go after the weapon."

Uraraka looked concerned. "Deku-kun, I don't… I don't want Bakugou to hurt you. And if he's going to be coming for you… are you sure you can take him?"

Izuku opened his mouth to speak and then closed it. He probably _could_ beat Bakugou in a fight, given his new Burst technique and how intricately he knew _everything_ about Bakugou's fighting style. But the real question was if Izuku trusted himself enough to keep composure and act in way that was befitting of a hero.

And right now Izuku wasn't sure that he could keep his more sadistic tendencies in regards to Bakugou underwraps if they went head-to-head.

"Alright," Izuku exhaled, "I have a better idea. Here's what we're going to do…"

* * *

Katsuki was fucking _enraged_.

He had no idea what the _fuck_ was up with Deku's new Quirk or with the backbone that the shitty nerd had somehow developed, but Katsuki planned to beat the life out of him until Deku started fucking _singing_ for him like a dumbass bird. Katsuki was certain that after a few explosions in his face that Deku's stupid brave face would crumble.

Katsuki was looking forward to it.

He had left Private School up with the weapon because this 'exercise' was worth fuckall to Katsuki. He wasn't a _villain_ but if that's the role he got then he would be the _best_ villain and blow fucking Deku out of the water.

Katsuki also needed to show Deku where his _true_ place was. That place was obviously underneath Katsuki. It didn't matter _where_ Deku was under him. That didn't matter to Katsuki. People didn't give a fuck about where stepping stones were unless it was to use them. People didn't care about ants unless they needed to get rid of them.

And that's all that Deku would be. An ant or a stepping stone in the narrative of Katsuki's life.

Katsuki couldn't wait to put Deku back down so that things would go back to _normal_.

So here he was, stalking through the halls of the building, doing his damndest to find the little fuckface. Deku's stupid costume had been bright fucking _green_ so it wouldn't be hard to find him at all—

There. A flash of green from the corner of his eye.

Katsuki turned quickly enough just to see it disappear around a corner and hear the pounding of feet as Deku _ran away_.

"Fucking Deku!" Katsuki shouted, his voice straining against his throat. Katsuki threw his hands behind him and rocketed over.

All he had to do was chase down Deku and pound him into the _dirt_.

"Bakugou!" Private School's voice hissed over the comm in his ear, "What are you—"

Katsuki stopped using his Quirk to tear out his comm and throw it into the wall, shattering it.

"Don't think that you can just run away from me, Deku! I'll fucking kill you!" Katsuki yelled.

And so it went for _way too fucking long;_ Katsuki seeing a flash of the green from Deku's costume and then chasing after it only to see Deku vanish around the next corner. Katsuki was pissed the fuck off.

"Fight me, you fucking coward!" Katsuki roared, "You have that new, flashy-ass Quirk of yours now so fucking _use_ it!"

Katsuki saw a flash of green vanish once more and raced after it.

He turned the corner. There, at the other end of the corridor, was Round Face.

She was holding a scrap of Deku's costume.

They had been dicking around with him.

Katsuki felt something _burning_ fiercely in his chest.

"What. The fuck," Katsuki hissed.

Round Face smiled. "Deku-kun said that you would go after him but I thought it would be better if he went for the weapon. So we improvised. Sorry."

She didn't seem sorry at all, the fucking piece of shit.

Looks like Katsuki would have to beat her before he could go after fucking Deku now. Fan-fucking-tastic.

Katsuki used his explosions to propel himself forwards, a roar ripping from his throat. He winded back his arm to deck her _across the face_ —

She dodged, almost like she had been expecting it—

And then her hand slapped onto him and Katsuki found himself going _a lot faster holy shit what_ —

And _that_ was when Katsuki found himself slamming into a wall.

"Deku-kun told me that you'd try to hit me with a right hook!" Round Face chirped, "So I just used my Quirk on you. You go a lot faster when there's no gravity to weigh you down. Then I just released it before you hit anything!"

She looked so fucking _happy_ at that and it pissed Katsuki _off_.

"You think you're worth _anything_?" Katsuki snarled, "You think that I give a _shit_ that you had _one_ half-assed idea?"

"If a 'half-assed idea' worked then what does that say about you?"

Oh, it was _on_.

Katsuki spang to his feet just in time to see Round Face running down the hall. Now that Katsuki knew what he was dealing with, he wouldn't have a hard time catching up. He started running after her—

The ceiling started _falling_ on him. Katsuki blew up the rubble that was coming down but _apparently_ that only caused more shit to come loose. He was forced to run down the hall with his head tucked under his arms.

Wait a second. Zero gravity Quirk.

She had _tricked_ him. She had made him think the building was collapsing, setting her little trap up while he hadn't been watching her.

Katsuki was _not_ going to fall for it again.

Katsuki rounded the corner just in time to see her sending a few pieces of rubble—he had made all of it while he had been rocketing after what he thought was Deku, shit—into the air. Wasting no time, Katsuki propelled himself forwards once again. Round Face clapped her hands together. Katsuki just braced and ignored the dumbass _pebbles_ that pelted him. Round Face seemed to realize that some shitty pieces of rock wasn't going to slow him down and she started running _again_. But Katsuki was faster.

He caught up to Round Face just as she turned around to face him. She was already bracing herself for a right hook, like Katsuki was some idiot who would do the same fucking thing twice after she had _told him_ what her plan was.

Instead, Katsuki launched an explosion at the ground and vaulted over her, ending up behind her. By the time she realized that he wasn't in front of her anymore, Katsuki was already firing off an explosion at her back. She yelled in pain as the force of the attack threw her forward. She must have used her stupid Quirk on herself though, since she didn't slam into the ground, just quickly floated away from Katsuki before planting her feet and facing him down again, hands clapping together as she did so.

Katsuki was done fucking around.

"Guess you may not know this," Katsuki started off, casually as he could while holding out his one arm, "but my sweat glands produce something like nitroglycerin. That's how I make my explosions. Assuming they honored my design requests…" Katsuki meaningfully looked at his grenade gauntlets. Round Face went pale.

"Well," Katsuki continued, "This gauntlet should be full by now."

"Stop!" Round Face shouted, "All Might says to stop before you kill someone!"

Katsuki grinned ferally. "You won't _die_ if it's not a direct hit."

Round Face ran backwards, her arms over her face.

Katsuki pulled the pin in the same second that he heard All Might's voice over the speakers roar, "The Hero Team wins!"

The world around him exploded.

* * *

Izuku couldn't _believe_ that he was going after the objective instead of Bakugou, but it was the best thing he could do in this situation. He wasn't sure if he would be able to stop himself from pummeling Bakugou into the ground during this exercise and he wasn't willing to risk slipping while under the surveillance of the rest of his class and All Might.

So he and Uraraka had come up with a new plan.

Izuku had torn a piece of his costume and handed it to Uraraka. Uraraka would play a more explosive and hate-filled version of cat-and-mouse with Bakugou, distracting him for as long as she could. Bakugou would likely use his explosions to go faster, kicking up rubble as he went. All Uraraka had to do was bait him and get out of sight before Bakugou could catch on. And once he did? Uraraka would have to fight him.

"It'll be fine!" Uraraka had said, "I'm a lot tougher than I look and you've told me a lot about him so I'll be ready for him!"

Izuku trusted her. He was also fairly sure that Bakugou wouldn't go all out on her since she wasn't _Izuku_.

So that left Izuku camping outside of the room Iida and the weapon were in.

"Bakugou, don't let your emotions get the better of you!" Iida was yelling into his comm. _Yeah, fucking unlikely,_ Izuku thought. "Hey! What are you—he cut off his transceiver! What a scoundrel!"

Bakugou had cut off contact with Iida? That was better than Izuku could have hoped for. That meant there was no way for Iida to alert Bakugou to Izuku's presence in time for Bakugou to avoid a fight with Uraraka.

Now Izuku just needed to wait for the perfect opportunity to strike.

It was then that Izuku noticed that Iida was muttering to himself. He strained his ears to listen.

"Bakugou seems to have a natural tendency towards troublemaking, so this exercise is perfectly suited to him," Iida mumbled, "I suppose that I must also take on the role of a villain. Though it brings shame to the Iida family name, this training will help me become a better hero! I must commit! To become a hero, I will cloak myself in darkness. I am… _the ultimate evil_."

It took every scrap of Izuku's willpower to stay silent and _not giggle like a small child_ because that was just _adorable_.

Although Izuku hated to interrupt Iida's rambling, it was the perfect time to act. Iida was completely invested in… roleplaying as a villain. _Holy shit, Iida. You take everything so seriously, it's amazing._

Izuku jumped out from behind the door frame and triggered Burst the second his right foot made contact with the ground. His leg hurt with the now-familiar ache that came with Burst, but it was fine. In just three short jumps, Izuku was across the room.

It was only as he was throwing a punch that Iida seemed to notice him.

"Mido—"

Izuku triggered Burst when his fist made contact with Iida's chest. _That_ hurt more than usual, but it wasn't unbearable. _Probably because punching someone in full metal armor would normally hurt more than anything else I've done with Burst so far, Quirk or no Quirk._ Thank god for the padding in his gloves or Izuku might have broken a knuckle.

Regardless of the pain, Izuku's attack was effective. Iida went skidding backwards.

"I must admit," Iida said, his voice taking on a forced malevolent quality that became more natural as he spoke, "I expected Uraraka-san to be the one to come when Bakugou ran off! But no matter! None of your tricks will work on me! You have seriously miscalculated, 'hero'!" Then Iida broke out in over-the-top evil laughter.

 _…_ _Jeez, he really is adorable. What a dork._

"Too bad for you," Izuku grinned, playing along, "Guess I'll just go for the straightforward approach."

Izuku ran at Iida. It only took a moment for Iida to begin racing towards Izuku. Izuku brought his arm back once they got closer.

When they were only a few feet from each other, Iida threw his leg out for a kick.

Izuku dropped down and _slid_.

 _Sorry Iida,_ Izuku thought as he grabbed Iida's outstretched leg. _Kicks are powerful and all, but they're too easy to block and turn against you, especially when your opponent is expecting it._

Izuku used all of his natural strength to _pull_ Iida's leg, throwing Iida off-balance and leaving Iida with both legs in the air. Izuku activated Burst and then hurled Iida to the side. Iida was airborne for all of two seconds before hitting the ground and tumbling across the floor, his body likely being thrown around inside the hard armor meant to protect him.

By the time Iida had gotten to his feet again, Izuku had already used Burst to propel himself across the room and had grabbed the bomb.

"Hero Team wins!" All Might's voice yelled over the speakers, something desperate tainting his tone.

Then an explosion a few floors away went off.

 _Uraraka._

Izuku was running before he even knew what he was doing, Iida hot on his heels, the training exercise forgotten.

It wasn't important.

Not anymore.

 _Please be okay, Uraraka. We're coming for you._


	5. Origins: Part V

Izuku had never ran faster before in his life than he did now, racing through the building, feet pounding against the floor, and the explosion still ringing in his ears. His thoughts were jumbled, rapidly flickering between _I am going to_ murder _Bakugou and I don't care who sees_ and _Uraraka is the first friend I've had in over ten years, please let her be okay_.

Uraraka had only been on the second floor when Izuku had left her. Taking the stairs two at a time, Izuku raced down, almost tripping over himself to go faster.

When Izuku reached the second floor, he bolted from the stairwell and took off in the direction of the explosion.

The first thing he saw when he rounded the corner was Bakugou, standing there with an arm outstretched and a pin in his other hand. He had the most dumbstruck expression on his face that would have been hilarious to Izuku if not for the circumstances.

Then he saw Uraraka. Izuku's blood ran cold.

Her body was limply sprawled on the ground, her hero suit scorched and tattered. Burn marks and cuts littered her skin. But worst of all were her _arms_ , blistering and bleeding and _red_.

Izuku faintly heard Iida's voice through the white noise roaring in his ears. Izuku couldn't make out the words, but the disgusted and disturbed tone resonated with Izuku's own feelings. Izuku had to willfully hold himself back, lest he launch himself towards Bakugou are tear out the bastard's eyes.

 _Not the time,_ Izuku told himself. _You're on camera and Uraraka isn't doing well. Priorities._

"What," Izuku said in a deceptively calm tone, "did you do."

Bakugou continued to stare at him dumbly. _Useless._

Izuku's fury continued to rage black and fiery inside of him, only fueled by how utterly shell-shocked Bakugou seemed to be. God, Izuku had never wanted to tear out anyone's throat before, but _damn_ was he tempted now. He took in a deep breath. He could act on these feelings later. He was already prepared to wait for his revenge on Bakugou. What was one more day?

Right now, making sure that Uraraka was safe was more important. He just needed to keep telling himself that.

"Iida, do you think that you're strong enough to carry Recovery Girl out here?" Izuku asked.

"Most likely," Iida answered in a small voice.

"Then I need you to run and get Recovery Girl as fast as you can," Izuku said, "Moving Uraraka right now is a _bad_ idea."

Iida was off almost immediately.

Izuku kneeled down next to Uraraka. "Uraraka, can you hear me?"

No response. Izuku figured as much. He began taking off his costume.

"What are you doing?" Bakugou asked. Izuku ignored him.

Soon enough, Izuku had stripped down to his undershirt and boxers. _Sorry mom._ He then ripped off both arm sleeves from the main jumpsuit and pulled apart the stitching along them to get two decently sized strips of cloth.

"Do you know how to administer first aid?" Izuku asked Bakugou. He _loathed_ having to ask him for help, but Uraraka was still more important than Izuku's grudge.

"The fuck? No, why would I?"

 _Figures. God, the world would be so much better off if you were fucking_ dead.

Izuku didn't have anything to clean the wounds— _I should get some pouches to put first aid kits into_ —so he would just have to get straight to bandaging them. Izuku took a deep breath in and then kneeled down beside Uraraka.

That's when All Might showed up with Recovery Girl in his arms.

"Oh dear," Recovery Girl breathed out as All Might set her down, "Let's see what I can do."

Izuku stepped back to give her room. "Uraraka will be fine, right?"

"Of course she will, dear," Recovery Girl reassured him, "She'll just need some rest after I use my Quirk on her. Why don't you and Bakugou-kun go back to the rest of your class with All Might?"

"Come, children," All Might said, his smile still pasted onto his face but his words strained, "Let's let Recovery Girl do her job."

* * *

Izuku hated how concern and rage and disgust were mixing in his stomach as he walked back to the rest of his class. He hated that he needed to walk beside _Bakugou_ , who had _hurt_ one of Izuku's friends. He balled his hands into fists, fingernails digging into his skin.

As they got closer to where they had started, Izuku could see Iida standing outside where the rest of the students were supposed to be, fidgeting. Iida raced up to him as soon as he caught sight of them, his engines firing off as he ran.

"Midoriya!" Iida cried, skidding to stop in front of them, "I went to go get Recovery Girl but All Might said that he would—"

Izuku cut him off. "I figured, Iida. Thank you. For springing into action so quickly. It means a lot to me."

"I had to do _something_ ," Iida said, "I am not equipped to deal with… what happened to Uraraka. It was the only thing I _could_ do. Is she going to be fine?"

Izuku managed to give Iida a watery smile. "Recovery Girl said she will be."

"Then that is all we can ask for," Iida said, "Midoriya, are… are you alright?"

"Yeah," Izuku replied in a soft tone.

"You're crying."

Izuku put a hand to his face and felt tears stain his fingers. "Oh."

In the next moment Iida was hugging him fiercely.

"Everything is going to be okay," Iida told him in hushed, soothing voice, "Recovery Girl said that Uraraka will recover, didn't she? And you were very quick to take control of the situation in order to make sure she got help as quickly as possible. You did great, Midoriya. Uraraka is going to be okay."

Izuku gripped Iida and sobbed into him. It was awkward and cumbersome and uncomfortable, being pressed up against his armor, but Izuku didn't care. Soon enough, the world narrowed down to his arms around Iida and Iida hugging him tightly.

His friend had gotten hurt and he had been _powerless._ His own plan had led Uraraka to being hurt. How could he have been such an _idiot_?

 _No,_ he thought, _I didn't do this._

 _This is_ Bakugou's _fault._

Izuku would _never_ forgive Bakugou for doing this. _Never._

When Izuku finally ran out of tears, he was still in Iida's arms, being held securely. The moment he started pulling away, Iida let him.

"Are you… feeling better?" Iida asked him, hesitance coloring the question.

"Yeah," Izuku sniffed, wiping away his tear tracts, "I'm fine now."

"Good. I'm glad to hear that," Iida said, "All Might said to join the rest of the class when we were ready. Do you want to do that now?"

Izuku looked around. All Might and Bakugou were nowhere to be seen. They must have gone inside with everyone else while Izuku had been… bawling his eyes out.

"Yeah," Izuku said, taking in a shaky breath, "Let's go."

"Midoriya-kun?"

"Yeah?"

"You should probably put your hero costume back on first."

"Oh."

* * *

Izuku half-heard All Might decree Iida the V.I.P. of the exercise, but he didn't really listen to the explanation Yaoyorozu gave as to why.

 _Bakugou obviously wouldn't get it. My plan relied on Bakugou hating me and putting Uraraka in danger. Iida was the only one who really acted him part the way it would go down in an actual scenario. Simple._

Izuku could care less about some silly bragging rights. What the hell did that matter when compared to the safety of his friend? _Nothing, that's what._

Once Yaoyorozu was done talking, Iida raised his hand.

"Sensei!" Iida said, "Would you allow Midoriya-kun and myself to go see Recovery Girl? We were injured during the fight."

All Might cocked his head to the side somewhat but ended up giving them a thumbs up. "Of course! Can't have out students being out of shape! You're free to head over."

Izuku stood and followed Iida out of the room. Once they were out of earshot, Izuku turned to him. "What was that about? I didn't think either of us were that bad off."

"Both of us sustained injuries from out fights!" Iida said, "I am sure that I am bruised from when you threw me—"

"Sorry about that," Izuku interjected, "It's just that I knew that you would go for a kick since that's where most of your power is and it was a quick way to get you out of the way long enough for me to secure the bomb—"

"It's fine," Iida cut him off with a sharp gesture, "It's nothing worse than what I would have gotten in an intense spar. Don't worry!"

"Oh," Izuku said, "Okay then."

"As I was saying," Iida continued, "I am bruised from that event. While I did not manage to land a single hit on you, I know that using your Quirk leaves you harmed, if only a small amount. Therefore, the wisest decision is to visit Recovery Girl so that we will no longer be hurt!"

Izuku was just so used to being bruised and battered that he hadn't realized that he could even visit Recovery Girl for such minor injuries. "Oh."

"... Besides, I wish to see how Uraraka-san is doing," Iida admitted in a quieter voice.

"Yeah," Izuku said, "Me too. Hey, Iida-kun?"

"Yes?"

"Thank you."

Iida smiled at him. "Of course, Midoriya-kun. What are friends for?"

Even though his heart was heavy, Izuku managed to return the smile. "Thanks, Iida-kun. Oh, and, uh, congratulations on being the V.I.P. for the round. You definitely earned it."

Iida's smile fell a bit and he looked down. "Thank you. It just… doesn't feel that important after everything that happened."

"Yeah," Izuku agreed, "I know. I feel the same."

By that time, the two of them were at Recovery Girl's office. Iida held open the door and Izuku walked in, mumbling his thanks. He instantly spotted Uraraka lying down on one of the beds. Her arms were more of a pink color than before and most of the lacerations seemed to be fainter now.

That didn't stop Izuku from noticing the prominent _burn scars_ on both of her forearms. _Death is too good for Bakugou. He will_ suffer _before I'm done with him. I don't know how yet, but it's going to be slow and terrible._

"Ah, Midoriya-kun and Iida-kun," Recovery Girl greeted, "How are you two?"

"Mostly fine," Izuku said, "We were just wondering if you could patch us up a bit more."

"Yes, of course, dears," Recovery Girl answered, "You two just take a seat."

"Recovery Girl!" Iida all but barked out, "How is Uraraka-san doing?"

"She'll make a full recover before the end of the day," Recovery Girl said before she planted a quick kiss on Iida's cheek. She turned to Izuku.

"Her scars," Izuku said, just barely managing to not grit his teeth. He took a deep breath and tried again. "Will she be left with scars?"

Recovery Girl fixed him with a sad look. "My Quirk isn't perfect. I'm sad to say that she will likely have them for the rest of her life. They're largely cosmetic, but there's nothing more that I can do."

Bakugou had _marked_ Uraraka, like she was some kind of _thing_ that Bakugou could own, nothing more than a possession. They were constant reminder to anyone who looked at them that Bakugou had _power_ over her, that he had dared to deface another human and _succeeded._

 _Another reason to_ hate _Bakugou,_ Izuku thought as Recovery Girl kissed his cheek, _Like I didn't have enough of those already._

"Now you two better get back to class," Recovery Girl told them, "Go and watch the rest of your classmates during their training. Have fun."

At her dismissal, Izuku and Iida left her office, Recovery Girl closing the door behind them. They just stood there for a few moments in silence.

"We should go back to class," Iida said. Neither of them moved.

After a few more seconds of silence, Izuku spoke up. "Do you just want to… leave?"

Iida gave Izuku an odd glance. "What?"

"Do you want to change out of our hero outfits and then just… go get ice cream or something?" Izuku asked.

Iida looked absolutely scandalized. "Are you suggesting that we _cut class_?"

Izuku shrugged. "It's just… I don't want to go back and watch everyone else fight each other. And… I don't want to be anywhere near Bakugou right now." _I don't trust myself not to strangle him to death the second I lay eyes on him._

Iida's posture relaxed. "Let me see if I can get Recovery Girl's permission first."

Izuku huffed out a dry laugh. "Go for it."

* * *

Ten minutes later, Izuku and Iida were walking out of U.A. in their school uniforms with Recovery Girl's blessing.

"So, ice cream?" Izuku asked.

"I typically do not eat such foods," Iida admitted, "But I would be willing to indulge just this once. Do you know where we should go?"

"There's this one place that I always pass by on the way here," Izuku said, "I don't know how good it will be, though. Does that work?"

Iida motioned jerkily with his arm. "Lead the way."

* * *

"What do you mean you don't have a favorite ice cream flavor?"

"I only indulge in ice cream when my brother brings me some," Iida said, "I have not been to an ice cream shop like this before! There are far too many choices for me to know which I like best!"

Izuku looked at Iida, expression completely aghast. "You _poor thing_."

"Are you going to pick something or what?" the girl behind the counter asked. Her tone was dripping with boredom and annoyance.

Izuku cast a quick glance around the store. There was no one else there. "Iida-kun, let's step out of line for now."

They both stepped away from counter. "Midoriya-kun, this can't be that important."

"Trust me, it _is_ ," Izuku insisted, "I guess if you don't know what to order, then I can try to help you get an idea of what all of them are like. Vanilla is one of the more inoffensive flavors and it's a great base for add-ins and toppings. Chocolate is richer and sweeter but a lot of people don't like that part of it. Strawberry is also sweeter than vanilla but it's fruitier in flavor than chocolate. Then you have mint chocolate chip and that had a minty flavor and the chocolate chips add a new texture to it. There's also sea salt caramel which is completely _different_ —"

Izuku stopped at the sound of laughter. He looked up.

Iida was holding up his hand in front of his mouth, eyes alight and his shoulders shaking with his ever laugh.

Izuku felt something unpleasant curl in his stomach.

 _Please don't be laughing at me. Please. I don't want another Bakugou in my life. Please._

"Please never change, Midoriya-kun," Iida told him when his chuckles had died down, "Your ramblings are astounding. I don't believe that I've laughed like that in a good while. Thank you. I really appreciate it."

 _He really does like my ramblings._

 _He likes_ me.

"You're welcome, Iida-kun," Izuku muttered. He hid his face in his hands and could feel the heat in his cheeks and _oh fuck he was blushing_.

"I think that I'll go with vanilla for now," Iida said, "I am not overly fond of sweeter foods, so that will likely be my best bet. It is also my brother's favorite flavor; it's the one that he would always get for me."

"Okay," Izuku said, his face cooling down now. He stepped back up to the counter. "One cone with vanilla ice cream and one with butter pecan, please."

The girl fixed him with a dull stare. "How many scoops?"

"One scoop for each of them," Izuku replied.

The girl punched in the order into the register and then looked expectantly at Izuku when the price showed up on screen facing him. Before he could even get his wallet out, Iida had already handed the money to the girl.

"Iida-kun!"

"You can pay the next time we go out for ice cream," Iida said as he accepted his change.

"But you just said you don't have it often!"

"I suppose that I must still be channeling my nefarious villain persona from earlier."

"Oh my _god_ Iida-kun," Izuku groaned.

Iida simply smiled at him. Izuku slapped him lightly on the shoulder. Iida just laughed again.

Izuku decided that he would try to get Iida to laugh more often.

The girl eventually handed them their ice cream and the two of them headed out of the shop. After a quick conversation, they decided to head to the nearest and just walk around while eating their ice cream.

"How do you like yours?" Izuku asked.

"I like it better than I thought I would!" Iida said, keeping his gestures to the hand without the ice cream, "As I said earlier, I usually don't have foods like this. It is important that my body remains in top shape so that I can be the best hero possible!"

"If anyone could be the best hero, I think it's you, Iida-kun," Izuku said. He meant it, too. Izuku would be the most powerful hero ever but… Izuku was aware that his own mentality wasn't what could be considered heroic. He knew that.

Iida was just… so _good._

Iida coughed a bit and turned away. When he spoke, his voice was tainted with embarrassment. "Thank you, Midoriya-kun. That is incredibly kind of you to say. But truly, you exemplify the traits of a hero just as well as I do, if not better! You were first in the entrance exam and your spirit is that of a true hero's!"

"You're flattering me," Izuku said, grinning.

They walked in a comfortable silence for a time, eating their ice cream as they went.

"... We should do this with Uraraka-chan when she gets better," Izuku said after a bit.

"We should," Iida said. He finished his ice cream. "Midoriya-kun?"

"What is it?" Izuku asked.

"What Bakugou did to Uraraka-san," Iida started to say. Izuku already didn't like where this was going. "... Did he do the same to you? Is that what you meant when you said he bullied you?"

"... Never anything as bad as what he did today," Izuku said, "He would use his Quirk to hurt me, but… nothing he did compares to what he did to Uraraka-chan."

"You're very strong," Iida said, "For having dealt with that. I am sorry that you had to go through something so awful."

"It's fine," Izuku told him. Time to change the topic. "Can we talk about something else?"

Izuku wasn't sure he could keep all of his _hate_ and _rage_ and _murderous intents_ bottled inside of him if they started talking about Bakugou. Izuku didn't want to give Iida that wrong idea about what Izuku was like.

 _You mean the right one,_ Izuku's traitorous brain whispered.

"... As you wish," Iida said, "Going back to our earlier discussion, I believe that doing an activity like this with Uraraka-san would be wonderful! Though perhaps we can get something healthier when we do."

"We are _not_ waiting for over a year for you to have ice cream again," Izuku told him, "That's illegal now."

"I am fairly certain that there is no law against the timespan between ice cream consumption, Midoriya-kun."

"I know," Izuku said, "I'm just teasing you. Don't worry."

"... Thank you." Iida spoke the words softly. "I have been told that I have a hard time telling when someone doesn't mean what they say. I have tried to improve that skill, but it is taking some time."

"Hm…" Izuku hummed, "How about every time I tease you or I'm being sarcastic I just kind of wink at you or nudge you a little? Would that be okay?"

Iida blinked at him. "I would very much appreciate that. Thank you."

"Yeah, of course. What are friends for?"

"I said that earlier."

"I was so inspired by it that I _had_ to copy you."

"It would be even more inspiring if you came up with your own words!"

Izuku bumped his shoulder into Iida's. Iida returned the gesture and it made Izuku giggle.

He would worry about Uraraka later. He would work on a plan to _desecrate_ Bakugou at another time.

For now, he was just going to focus on being happy in this moment.

* * *

It was after Izuku had parted ways with Iida and was making his way down the street to his home that he realized he was being followed. Discreetly as he could, he glanced back.

Yup, that was Bakugou skulking towards him. Izuku stopped and turned around. "What do you want, Kacchan?"

Bakugou seemed momentarily stunned that Izuku had addressed him but it was quickly dispelled as rage, burning white-hot and furious, filled his face.

"Where the _fuck_ did you go, you shit nerd?" Bakugou snarled.

"I got ice cream with Iida-kun after you _savaged_ Uraraka-chan," Izuku hissed, "What the _hell_ was that about? What did she ever do to you? What possessed you to _scar_ her?"

Bakugou curled his lip in a way that he probably thought was intimidating but just ended up making him look even stupider. "The fuck are you on about?"

"There are _scars_ on Uraraka's arms, _Kacchan_ ," Izuku seethed, "Burn scars that _you_ put there."

"Round Face was supposed to fucking dodge!"

"It was a _goddamn training exercise_!" Izuku yelled, "You tried to inflict lethal damage on someone for a _hero class_ and your excuse is that 'she was supposed to dodge'? What the _fuck_ is wrong with you?"

Bakugou seemed startled by Izuku swearing, but he didn't let it slow him down. "Well _maybe_ if she fucking _belonged_ at U.A. instead of being such a shitty fighter—"

Izuku saw red.

"Don't you _dare_ pin this on her," Izuku ground out, "She is the _victim._ This is all _your_ fault."

"Shut the fuck up, you fucking Deku!" Bakugou shouted, "What, you think that just because you have some new, fancy-ass Quirk that you can fucking stand up to me? Newsflash, _fucker_ , you're _worthless_. It's only a matter of time before everyone else finds out."

While Bakugou had been spewing vitriol from his mouth he had also been stalking towards Izuku, feet slamming into the ground with every step. Izuku calmly stood his ground, not once letting his guard down. He quickly glanced around. No one here. Good.

"It doesn't matter that you have a Quirk," Bakugou hissed, "You and everyone else at this fucking school are _beneath_ me. You're still a _nobody_ that's worth _nothing_ and you will _never_ be able to change that."

Bakugou winded back his arm for his predictable right hook, explosions sparking in his hand.

 _Predictable._

Izuku grappled Bakugou's arm in a smooth, fluid movement. It was easy enough to adjust his grip and pivot his body to lift Bakugou over his shoulder and slam him into the ground, back-first,

When Bakugou hit the concrete, he let out a high pitched yell that Izuku wish he could _record and make into his text alert noise_ and stared wide-eyed at Izuku.

"Listen well, _Kacchan_ ," Izuku said, "I am _not_ putting up with your shit anymore. The only reason I didn't report what you did to Uraraka-chan is that _everyone_ knows that you did it. I don't really care what you do, but don't you _dare_ do something like this again or I will make you regret it."

Bakugou looked at Izuku like he had never seen him before.

Izuku's voice continued on with a hushed, sinister tone. "Mark my words, _Bakugou,_ I will _not_ stand by and let you hurt anyone. I refuse to allow you to do it."

"... What the _fuck_ ," Bakugou breathed out.

"Follow me home and try to pull a stunt like that again and I will tell Aizawa-sensei _and_ All Might," Izuku said, "I hope that you have the worst evening imaginable. May ferrets sneak into your bedroom and eat your eyes while you sleep. Now _leave me and my friends alone_."

With that, Izuku walked away from Bakugou for the second time that month.

 _He'll burn in hell for what he's done._

 _I'll see to that myself._


	6. Origins: Part VI

Izuku wasn't even halfway down the street when he noticed the commotion in front of the school. As he got closer and closer, he realized that the crowd at the gates consisted of people holding up microphones, camera, and other various recording equipment.

 _The media,_ Izuku thought. _Of course they would be here. U.A._ is _the most competitive hero school in the country. Combine that with the fact that All Might is a teacher here and it's like you're practically begging for news coverage._

Izuku ducked his head down and began walking at a brisk pace when he got closer. His efforts were for naught as he soon found a microphone shoved into his face.

"What's it like learning from All Might?" some nameless reporter asked him.

Izuku mumbled something _completely_ incoherent under his breath and just kept trying to work through the crowd.

"Tell us about 'All Might, the teacher.'"

 _What a stupid question. Do these people not have anything better to do?_

"Every day with him is a reminder that I am enrolled at this preeminent educational institution—"

 _Oh god no. They got Iida._

"Hey, Iida-kun!" Izuku called. "Can I talk to you for a second?"

Iida's head whipped in his direction. Iida flashed him a small smile. "Of course, Midoriya-kun!" Iida turned back to the reporter. "Excuse me, I must speak with my classmate!"

"But—!"

Izuku grabbed Iida's arm and pulled him through the crowd and into the relatively safety beyond the gate. The reporters and journalists could still be heard quite clearly, but Izuku had no problem tuning them out.

"What did you wish to discuss?" Iida asked.

"To be honest, I just wanted to help you get away from that reporter," Izuku admitted. "He seemed pretty insistent."

"Ah, I see," Iida said. "While everything was going just fine, I must thank you for your thoughtfulness! You are a good friend."

Izuku smiled. "Right back at you, Iida-kun. How are you doing?"

"I am faring quite well," Iida said. "Though I must concede that I shall feel much better when I see Uraraka-san!"

"... I hope that she's doing okay."

"Recovery Girl assured us that she would be just fine," Iida said. "I have full faith in both her and Uraraka-san."

"Yeah," Izuku said. "Me too."

That was when Bakugou decided to skulk past. He only cast a glare at Izuku for half a second before quickly diverting his gaze when his eyes met Izuku's. The exchange was short, but it was enough for Izuku's ever-burning flame of hatred to _roar_ inside of him.

 _Don't think that I've forgotten what you've done, Bakugou._

 _Don't think that I'll_ ever _let this go._

 _I will kill you for this. I will forge an entirely new circle of hell just for you in order to ensure optimal_ suffering.

"… how is someone like him even _in_ the Hero Course?" Iida asked him once Bakugou was out of earshot.

"As much as I hate to admit it, Bakugou really does want to be a hero and he's fairly skilled," Izuku told him. "He just needs a complete overhaul on his personality and his attitude."

Iida gave him a skeptical look. "If you insist."

"Tell us what the Symbol of Peace looks like in front of a class!"

"How he looks? Uh…"

Izuku's gaze snapped in the direction of the voice. _Uraraka._

"Uraraka-chan!" He shouted, waving his arms above her head to catch her attention. It seemed to work as she turned to see who had shouted her name.

"Deku-kun! Iida-kun!" Uraraka called out in response. She began running towards them. She threw her arms around Izuku. Her _bandaged_ arms. "Oh my god, how are you?"

"Me?" Izuku asked. "I should be asking _you_ that. How are your arms? How are _you_?"

"I'm just fine!" Uraraka reassured him. "I just need to go and see Recovery Girl before class starts, that's all!"

 _She's still hurt. She's still in pain._

 _She still has_ scars.

Izuku grit his teeth. _Hell can wait for now. I need to find an excuse to pummel Bakugou and break some of his limbs while he's still alive. And I need to do it_ fast. _I need to snap him like a fucking_ toothpick.

"That is wonderful to hear, Uraraka-san!" Iida said. "It is encouraging to hear that you will indeed make a full recovery! Midoriya-kun and myself have been quite worried for you."

"Aw, that's sweet of you!" Uraraka released Izuku before pulling Iida into a hug. Iida didn't seem to know how to react to that, simply jerking his arms around a bit before quickly wrapping his arms around Uraraka in return. "You guys are so nice!"

"Of course we would be concerned with your well-being!" Iida said as Uraraka let go of him. "You are our friend, after all."

"Didn't you say that you needed to go see Recovery Girl?" Izuku asked, managing to shove his rage away to deal with later. "Do you want us to walk you there?"

"I don't need any help getting there, but I'd love the company!" Uraraka said. "C'mon, let's go!"

That was when Izuku heard metal screech against metal followed by a mighty _clang._ He turned around to see that the front gate had closed rather suddenly, blocking out all of the media. Aizawa was walking towards them, his gait relaxed and prowling.

The three of them quickly hurried to make their way to Recovery Girl's office. They did _not_ want to incur the wrath of Aizawa should they be late.

* * *

They somehow managed to arrive at the classroom on time. Izuku practically sprinted to his desk and took a seat just before Aizawa sighed loudly.

"Good work with yesterday's battle training, most of you," Aizawa said in his typical, monotone voice. "I've looked through your grades and evaluations, as well as reviewing the footage of your fights for myself. Bakugou-san."

Bakugou's posture grew more rigid as he met Aizawa's eyes.

"Grow up already," Aizawa told him. "Stop wasting your talent. Also, you'll be staying after school today for detention. During this time, you will be taking a course on assault and why it's _not_ acceptable."

"What!" Bakugou barked, shooting up from his desk. Sparks were bursting from his palms.

Aizawa's eyes went red, his hair floating up. "Don't think that I won't expel you. You may not have zero potential, but what you did yesterday will _not_ be tolerated here. You will attend that class if you want to stay at this school and you will _not_ have a repeat of yesterday. Are we clear?"

"... Got it," Bakugou managed to get out through gritted teeth, sitting back down. The red faded from Aizawa's eyes and his hair flopped back down.

Izuku had to stop himself from _cackling._ Finally, here was another person who recognized exactly how _awful_ Bakugou was and was _doing_ something about ut. The only other person who didn't think that the _sun shined out of his ass_ before this had been his mom.

 _No, that's not true,_ Izuku realized. _Iida doesn't like him. He hasn't said it explicitly, but he may as well have. I can't imagine Uraraka likes him at all, either._

"... And it seems Midoriya-san somehow managed to not break an arm yesterday," Aizawa continued. "I'm glad I don't have to repeat myself. Keep it that way."

"Okay, Aizawa-sensei," Izuku replied, doing his damndest to keep anything beyond mild satisfaction from his voice.

 _Hear that, Bakugou? Our teacher favors me over_ you. _You better start getting used to it._

It seemed like more people were starting to take Izuku's side over Bakugou's. It warmed Izuku's cold, dark heart.

Too bad that it had taken Uraraka being scarred for people to realize it.

Izuku's good mood instantly evaporated.

"Now, onto homeroom business," Aizawa sighed. "I hate to make a sudden announcement, but today…"

Izuku could _feel_ the shift in the atmosphere as everyone in the class tensed up.

"… You'll be picking a class president," Aizawa finished.

 _Huh,_ Izuku blinked. _That's… surprisingly normal. Alright, then._

Suddenly there was an uproar of noise ripping through the class as everyone called out that Aizawa should choose _them_ to be the class president and not someone else. Izuku knew full well that whoever was chosen would act as the leader of the class, acting as the face of Class 1-A. Thus, he didn't really care _who_ was chosen so long as it wasn't Bakugou.

 _He deserves_ nothing _good in his life, no matter how trifle or significant._

"Leading the many is a task of heavy responsibility! However, ambition does not equate to ability!"

Izuku turned his attention to Iida, watching him as he spoke.

"This sacred office demands the trust of its constituents!" Iida continued. "If this is to be a democracy, then I put forward the motion that our true leader be chosen by an election."

 _Iida would be great at giving speeches,_ Izuku thought.

"But Iida-kun, we haven't known each other long enough to build any trust," Asui pointed out.

"And everyone'll just vote for themselves!" Kirishima shouted.

"That is precisely why anyone who manages to earn multiple votes will be the best-suited individual for the job!" Iida said.

 _Well, if hero work doesn't pan out for Iida for some reason, he'd be pretty good at being a member of the National Diet,_ Izuku mused.

Iida turned to face Aizawa, his shoulders squared back. "Aizawa-sensei! Will you allow this?"

Aizawa was already halfway in his yellow sleeping bag by the time he replied. "However you do it, just make it quick."

* * *

By the end of it, Izuku and Yaoyorozu were tied with two votes each. Izuku felt his mind go blank. _Who for love of_ fuck _voted for me?_

"Who the _fuck_ voted for Deku!" Bakugou barked, echoing Izuku's own sentiment, much too Izuku's disgust. Uraraka suddenly looked very interested in the ceiling.

"Ha, I guess we know it wasn't you!" Sero laughed at Bakugou's reaction. Izuku put a mental checkmark next to Sero's name. Anyone who was willing to laugh at or mock Bakugou was good in Izuku's books.

"I…" Iida seemed absolutely flabbergasted as he stared at the board. "I got a vote?"

"So you voted for someone else, then?" Yaoyorozu asked.

"You're the one who proposed this," Satou said, his arms crossed. "Why would you do that while expecting to lose?"

"Quiet," Aizawa groaned. "Your co-presidents are Yaoyorozu-san and Midoriya-san. Now get out of here and go to lunch."

Izuku was still fairly shell-shocked as he, Uraraka, and Iida sat down to eat.

"… Who the hell voted for me?" Izuku muttered under his breath.

"I did!" Uraraka cheered. "I'm sure that you'll be a great class president! You're so nice and smart that you'll be the best president possible!"

Izuku felt honored to receive such praise. _I'm only nice to you and Iida, Uraraka. I don't really care about everyone else in the class. And I fully intend on getting Bakugou killed. Just as soon as I figure out how to make him_ suffer _for everything he's ever done._

Iida suddenly looked very confused. "You voted for Midoriya-kun?"

"Um, yeah?" Uraraka said. "Why, does that not make sense to you?"

"No, it does," Iida said. "Midoriya-kun's grit and decisiveness in a pinch make him perfectly suited to lead us all. That's why I voted for him, after all."

Izuku once again felt touched. _I can't believe that I went from having no friends to two of the best ones that I could have ever gotten._

"But Midoriya-kun only ended up with two votes," Iida continued. "If both of us voted for him, then that would account for both of the votes."

Uraraka's eyes lit up as she turned to Izuku. "Who did you vote for, Deku-kun?"

"Uh," Izuku stuttered, caught off guard, "I voted for Iida-kun."

"… Did you truly?" Iida asked in a soft voice.

"Well, yeah," Izuku said. "You're really smart and organized and you're really passionate about everything you do. I just thought that you would be the best possible choice. Better than me, at least."

… Were those _tears_ pooling in the corners of Iida's eyes?

"Thank you, Midoriya-kun," Iida said, voice earnest and brimming with something that almost bordered on _reverence_. "I humbly accept your compliment and your faith in me!"

Uraraka paused in eating her rice. "The way you always talk… are you a rich kid, Iida-kun?"

"That would make sense," Izuku muttered. "Considering that he's the younger brother of a Pro Hero."

"What?" Iida said, a look of bewilderment crossing his face. "How do you know that?"

"Oh, I guess I just figured it out?" Izuku's answer came out sounding like a question. He cleared his throat. "I know that Ingenium has a younger brother and your Quirk is identical to his in everything but placement. It wasn't too hard to put the pieces together."

"You could totally be a detective, Deku!" Uraraka said. "You can figure out all this stuff so quickly!"

"Your inductive reasoning is indeed impressive," Iida agreed. "Like Midoriya-kun said, my older brother is the Pro Hero Ingenium. The Iidas are a renowned hero family. I am the second son. I usually don't like others knowing this so I have taken to trying to keep it hidden."

"That's awesome, Iida-kun! What is he like?" Uraraka asked.

Iida's smile was so full of warmth and pride that Izuku was almost surprised. "He is a leader with unwavering adherence to rules and regulations! His is truly a beloved hero! It's my admiration for him that has inspired my own desire to become a hero. Though… I realize that I am not yet ready to lead anyone. Seeing as Midoriya-kun was the superior candidate, it was only right for him to receive the role of class co-president!"

 _Yeah,_ Izuku thought, _Iida really_ is _good at giving speeches._

Uraraka stared at Iida, her face somewhere between shock and awe. "I've never seen you smile before now, Iida-kun."

"What?" Izuku blurted out. "Iida-kun has smiled a lot, though."

"He has?"

Iida and Uraraka looked just as confused as Izuku felt. Izuku went over every time he could remember Iida smiling.

 _Oh._

"I think that I'm the only one in the class who has seen Iida-kun smile before right now," Izuku said slowly, words heavy with consideration. "But I've _definitely_ seen him smile."

Something flashed in Uraraka's eyes that Izuku recognized as devious. Uraraka opened her mouth to say something.

That's when a loud, high pitched noise _screeched_ through the air. Izuku felt himself flinch. Uraraka slammed her hands over her ears and Iida jerked so hard that his knee hit the table.

"Security Level Three has been breached," the overhead speaker sounded. "All students, please evacuate in an orderly fashion."

That was when all hell broke loose.

* * *

By the time the police had corralled the reporters out of the school, all of the students had returned to their classrooms.

"Iida-kun, you were amazing!" Uraraka gushed. "You figured out what to do so quickly! It was really cool!"

"I was simply doing whatever I could in order to make sure that the best possible outcome occurred," Iida said, hands swinging wildly and embarrassment clear on his face. "I am sure that anyone else in my position would have attempted to do the same!"

"Alright, settle down," Aizawa deadpanned to the class. "Your class presidents have something to say."

"Go ahead, Midoriya-san," Yaoyorozu said.

Izuku took in a deep breath. "Obviously, we plan to take on more students council members. But, before that, I would like to say this: I believe that Iida-kun is better suited to be the class president than I am."

Iida's face contorted into an expression of absolute awe and disbelief.

"You all saw how well he reacted and led everyone in that crisis," Izuku said. "I think that he's the best person for the job, should he choose to accept it."

All throughout the class, murmurs of agreement and declarations of how amazing Iida had been. Izuku discreetly let out the breath that he had been holding. _They don't hate my suggestion. That's good. Different, but good._

"Whatever," Aizawa grumbled. "Just get on with it."

Iida shot to his feet and stood ramrod straight, raising his hand in a salute to the class. "I accept!"

"Do your best, Exit Sign Iida-kun!"

"You can do it, Emergency Exit-san!"

Izuku smiled.

 _Today, at least, has been a good day._

 _I'm glad._

* * *

Izuku came into school the next day both looking forward to and dreading Class 1-A's Foundational Hero Studies class. While the class itself was incredibly interesting and taught by All Might, the outcome of the last time Izuku had been in the class was… less than ideal, to put it mildly.

 _All Might definitely will have learned from his mistake,_ Izuku assured himself. _He must have. He has to._

When Izuku stepped into the classroom, he felt a mix of confusion and disappointed stir in his chest to see Aizawa standing at the front of the room.

Deciding to ask about it after class had started, Izuku gave a quick wave to Uraraka and Iida—which they both returned—before he took a seat. He didn't have to wait long for Aizawa to start talking.

"Now, for today's Foundational Hero Studies class, All Might, myself, and one other person will be supervising it," Aizawa told the class.

 _So it's a special class,_ Izuku thought. _Complete with All Might, Aizawa, and a guest teacher. Interesting._

Sero's hand shot up into the air. "Um, what're we doing, exactly?"

"Today's lesson will focus on preparing you for disaster relief, from floods to fire," Aizawa said. "It's rescue training."

An excited wave of chatter rushed through the classroom, everyone talking about how thrilled they were for the class and which parts they were likely to do best at. Izuku glanced over to look at Uraraka and Iida. Uraraka looked like she was ready to burst with joy while Iida had an eager and determined expression on his face. It was good to see that both of them seemed to be enthusiastic for the class.

"Hey." Aizawa's flat voice and dark glare was enough to cut off anyone who was talking. "I'm not done yet."

Aizawa took out a small device and clicked a button. The racks with their costumes started sliding from the wall. "It's up to each of you whether or not you want to wear your costumes as some of them are ill-suited for this kind of activity. The training site is a bit remote, so we're going by bus. That's all. Get ready."

In the end, Izuku took all of his equipment and wore his gym uniform, seeing as how the costume his mom had made him was still in disrepair from tearing off the sleeves. He was one of the first in the class to get fully dressed so he found himself waiting outside for Uraraka and Iida instead of immediately making his way to the bus.

Iida came out not too long after him. He gave Izuku a quick wave before mentioning that he needed to get "everyone in order to get on the bus, so as to ensure that it is the most efficient method possible!" Izuku smothered a fond smile and gave him a mock salute in return as Iida walked off.

Bakugou soon skulked past him. Izuku fixed him with a cold stare. Anger raged in red eyes, with something not dissimilar to _nervousness_ clouding it over.

 _I make Bakugou nervous._

 _Good. He should be nervous around me._

 _I have a lot to repay him for, after all._

Izuku couldn't bring himself to feel guilty about his darker thoughts, not even when he tried to think of his mom or All Might's reactions.

"Deku-kun, why aren't you wearing your costume?"

Izuku turned his gaze from Bakugou to see Uraraka standing there in her gym uniform as well. The short sleeves left her scars on full display. Izuku had to swallow down all sorts of darker thoughts. _Uraraka needs me to treat her normally right now, not for me to go off the handle about Bakugou, no matter how much I want to._

Forcing on a small smile, Izuku answered, "It didn't make it through the battle in one piece. The school's support company is repairing it, so I just need to wait for now. What about you?"

"Well, I mentioned that my costume was kind of tight, right?" Uraraka asked. "I got it sent back so that they could make it more comfortable and get rid of the heels. I just can't imagine fighting in something like that."

 _That and it's still messed up from when Bakugou fucking—_

 _Stop. Not what she needs right now._

"Yeah, that makes a lot of sense," Izuku said. He and Uraraka started walking towards the bus. "I still can't believe that someone would do that. It's awful."

"I'm trying to give them the benefit of the doubt and assume they just thought I was smaller than I really am," Uraraka said. Izuku had a hard time buying into that theory.

The shrill shriek of a whistle pierced through the air. "Line up according to your I.D. number! Fill in the seats in an orderly fashion!"

Izuku and Uraraka traded fond, exasperated looks with each other.

 _Typical Iida._

* * *

Iida had been crushed about the bus not having the predicted layout. Izuku was doing his best to not chuckle at Iida's anguish over the fact.

 _He's so serious about everything. It's amazing._

"Midoriya-chan."

 _Chan?_ Izuku turned to face Asui. "Asui-san."

"Call me Tsuyu, kero," she insisted.

"Tsuyu-san, then," Izuku compromised. _I don't know you well enough to be comfortable calling you by your first name, but I'm not about to openly be an asshole._

"Close enough," Tsuyu shrugged. "Just so you know, I generally say what's on my mind. I know myself well enough to be aware of that."

"… Okay?"

"Your Quirk is very similar to All Might's, kero," Tsuyu commented casually.

Izuku felt his heart rate kick up a bit but he kept his expression neutral. _Deflect like your life depends on it._

"I guess I can see why you'd say that," Izuku conceded. "We both have strength-enhancing Quirks, but All Might doesn't break his bones and turn his arms into soup when he uses his Quirk."

Suddenly everyone near Izuku was staring at him.

"… What?" Izuku asked after a few tense moments of silence.

"Dude," Kirishima said. "What do you mean 'turning your arms into soup'?"

 _Oh. Right._

"You weren't there," Izuku said. "But it happened during the entrance exam. When I use my Quirk at full power without cutting it off almost immediately, it kind of… shatters the bones in whatever part of my body I'm channeling it in. So when I took out the zero-pointer with my full power, I ended up with arm soup."

"It's true," Iida chimed in, apparently mostly over his bout of melodrama. "I saw him use his Quirk that way. It was magnificent to behold, but the results were… undesirable, to say the least."

"… What the actual _fuck_?" Kaminari was looking at Izuku like he was crazy. "You're telling me that if you aren't super careful with your Quirk that you will end up hurting yourself so badly that your insides turn into _pudding_?"

"Basically," Izuku said. "I'm glad I figured out a technique to stop it from doing that. It's not as powerful and it needs a lot of concentration and timing and it still hurts, but I don't end up with unusable limbs."

"… That's so _manly_ ," Kirishima breathed out. "It's so dangerous but it's an awesome Quirk. Way cooler than my hardening."

"I think that your Quirk is really great," Izuku told him. "It's extremely versatile and keeps your from getting hurt. You'll be a great Pro Hero one day if you keep working at it."

"Thanks, dude!" Kirishima grinned at Izuku, shark-like teeth on full display. "That's really cool of you to say! Still, my Quirk isn't that flashy and being a Pro is about popular appeal, too!"

"My navel laser is both strong and cool," Aoyama all but purred out. Izuku found the tone both humorous and somewhat uncomfortable. "My Quirk is perfect for a Pro."

"So long as your stomach doesn't blow up!" Ashido chirped.

Izuku had never seen someone's face darken without moving a muscle before he saw Aoyama do it. Izuku was almost impressed by it.

"You wanna talk about strong and cool?" Kirishima asked. "I say that Todoroki-kun and Midoriya-kun have that market cornered."

"Bakugou-kun is pretty strong, too," Satou pointed out.

"But Bakugou-chan is too unhinged to be popular," Tsuyu said. Izuku could have _hugged_ her for saying that but he restrained himself.

"What did you say, Frog Face?" Bakugou roared, shooting to his feet. Tsuyu simply pointed a finger at him as if saying 'see?'

"We haven't even known each other for a _week_ and you've already made it abundantly clear that your personality is about as pleasant as a _steamed turd_ ," Kaminari said. Izuku actually _twitched_ to stop himself from launching himself across the aisle to hug him.

 _Bakugou being picked on is definitely a change of pace,_ Izuku grinned. _I fucking love it._

* * *

Izuku couldn't believe that he was meeting yet _another_ Pro Hero, especially not one as amazing at _Thirteen._

"The Space Hero, Thirteen!" Izuku gasped. "They're an honorable, kind hero who does their best work in rescue scenarios!"

 _They're a perfect for this!_ Izuku thought excitedly. _This is going to be great!_

"Ooh, I _love_ Thirteen!" Uraraka blurted. "They've always been my favorite hero! I'm so _happy_! U.A. is the best!"

While Uraraka was rambling about her favorite Pro Hero— _Oh how the tables have turned,_ Izuku thought—Izuku noticed that Aizawa had shambled on over to Thirteen and the two of them were speaking in hushed tones. His curiosity was instantly piqued.

Soon enough, the two of them wrapped up whatever it was they had been discussing and Thirteen turned to the class. They gave a short yet inspiring speech about how every Quirk had its own potential to be dangerous as well as helpful and it was up to each person to best use their own Quirk to provide as much aid to others as possible.

Izuku almost would have bought into it if Bakugou didn't exist. Since he did, Izuku had a hard time believing that _everyone_ was worth saving.

Not if they were anything like Bakugou.

Thirteen finished with a charming bow. "That is all! Thank you for listening!"

"They're so _awesome_!" Uraraka cried as Iida fervently applauded them. Izuku couldn't help the surge of affection he felt for them.

 _People like both of them are worth protecting._

 _Uraraka and Iida are worth protecting._

That was when Aizawa's voice, usually so emotionless but not dripping with unease and dismay, _yelled,_ "Huddle up and _don't move_!"

Izuku was _instantly_ on guard.

"Thirteen, protect the students!" Aizawa commanded, pulling his goggles over his eyes. Thirteen moved to stand between the students and whatever Aizawa was keeping his gaze fixed on somewhere in the main plaza.

It didn't take long for everyone to start noticing the _giant cloud of swirling black and purple smoke_ that a hoard of people were pouring out of.

"More battle robots?" Kirishima asked, his voice tinged with rising _fear._ "Like from the entrance exam?"

"Don't move!" Aizawa barked. Izuku was _never_ going to get used to the man sounding so impassioned and _scared_. "Those are _villains_!"

 _Oh fuck._


	7. Origins: Part VII

As villains poured into U.S.J from the dark mist, narrow strips of yellow light glowed from within the shadowy clouds. Izuku soon realized that those were _eyes_ in the mist.

Then the mist started to _speak._

"Thirteen and Eraserhead, is it?" the mist mused, voice neutral and almost _pleasant,_ like they were discussing the weather. "According to the staff schedule I received the other day… All Might should be here as well."

Aizawa mumbled something under his breath as Izuku felt his pulse stutter. These villains were here for All Might.

It wasn't hard to figure out what their goal was.

They wanted to either capture or kill All Might.

Izuku felt hatred, toxic and dark as pitch, _burn_ inside of him. It was something that raged more fiercely than anything that he had _ever_ felt for Bakugou.

 _All Might believed in me when no one else would even treat me with basic human decency. They are_ not _going to do anything if I have any say in it._

 _I won't hesitate to kill them._

Izuku didn't even _consider_ brushing off those thoughts.

"Where is he?" asked a villain from the plaza who was covered head to toe in… were those hands? "We've come all this way… I brought my whole party with all of my best players and the Symbol of Peace isn't even _here_? Maybe killing one of his precious students will bring him out?"

All of the students were clamoring about how the villains had gotten in the building and what their _obvious_ objective was and just how smart or dumb they must be. What they were saying didn't matter. What _mattered_ was taking them out as quickly as possible. Izuku couldn't afford to underestimate them or pull any of his punches.

If there was ever a time to _not_ fuck up, then this was it.

And if some of the villains died in the process? That would be their own damn fault for even _thinking of hurting All Might._

"Thirteen!" Aizawa's unusually sharp voice cut through Izuku's thoughts. "Begin evacuating the students! Try calling the school! One of these villains must be jamming the sensors, most likely one with an electrical Quirk of some sorts. Kaminari!"

"Yes, Aizawa-sensei!" Kaminari snapped into a tense and expectant stance, poorly trying to conceal his nerves.

"Try using your Quirk to signal for help," Aizawa ordered.

"Got it!"

Aizawa began stalking towards the steps leading down into the plaza.

 _Wait._

Killing—or, more likely in Aizawa's case, _stopping_ —the villains was important, but this was such a _dumb_ decision on Aizawa's part.

"Aizawa-sensei!" Izuku barked, "You can't fight them alone! Your Quirk can't effectively erase against that many opponents. Eraserhead specializes in short ambush attacks! Head-on fights is _not_ where you'll have the advantage!"

Aizawa only turned to briefly glance back at Izuku. "No hero worth their salt is a one-trick pony."

Izuku blinked. It was such a different attitude when he compared it to the one that had resulted in Izuku 'rescuing' Bakugou from the slime villain. A whole crowd of Pro Heroes had claimed that no one had the appropriate Quirk to save a middle school boy.

And here was Aizawa, ready to fight a whole horde of villains to protect his students, despite knowing full well that he was not suited to do so.

Izuku's respect for Aizawa skyrocketed.

"Thirteen, take care of them," Aizawa said.

Then he leaped down to confront the villains.

With the kind of graceful, fluid strength that Izuku could hardly believe was _real_ , Aizawa quickly restrained three villains with his capture weapons and bashed their skulls together with a dull _thunk._ That got the rest of the villains to realize that this wasn't going to be an easy fight for them.

Regardless of their new estimation of their opponent, Aizawa managed to use his capture weapons to _fling_ one particularly nasty-looking brute into a cluster of other villains, knocking them over like bowling pins. Aizawa's movements were efficient and agile, almost hypnotizing to watch.

Izuku couldn't help but think that Aizawa could _easily_ become a top-ranking hero if he wanted to. _Or if someone gave him a gun. He'd be unstoppable._

"Even on his own against that many opponents," Izuku muttered, uncaring of the awe coloring his tone, "Aizawa-sensei can hold his own."

Suddenly, there was a hand gripping Izuku's arm and pulling him back. Izuku got ready to fire up Burst and deck whoever was trying to restrain him in the _face._

He let his pulled-back arm hang awkwardly in the air when he recognized Iida's face.

"This isn't the time for analysis!" Iida hissed, tugging Izuku towards the class and Thirteen, "We need to evacuate _now_!"

"We can't just _leave_ Aizawa-sensei!" Izuku insisted. _And I want a chance to_ annihilate _these absolute_ bastards _with my own two hands!_

"Aizawa-sensei is a Pro Hero!" Iida kept pulling Izuku, "He can handle himself! We need to _get away_!"

In the next moment, the dark mist was looming over all of Class 1-A and Thirteen. "I'm afraid that I am not allowed to let that happen," the mist said in a strangely polite voice. If Izuku didn't know any better, he would say that the voice was tinged with something akin to reluctance.

Izuku quickly came to the conclusion that this person—because Izuku had realized that this definitely a person and that this weird mist thing was definitely his Quirk—was the most dangerous out of everyone else present. Able to bypass Aizawa with no trouble, transporting an absurd amount of villains into what was supposed to be a secure area… Izuku had no clue what this villain's limitations were, but his abilities were unquestionably _terrifying_ to consider.

"Greetings," the villain said. "You are currently being attacked by the League of Villains. You must forgive the audacity, but the reason that they've come here today to this bastion of heroism is that they wish to end the life of All Might, the Symbol of Peace."

 _Yeah, no shit,_ Izuku thought even as surprised gasps rippled from his classmates.

"We were all under the impression that he would be here today, but it seems that his schedule was revised?" the villain _asked_ , like he expected any kind of answer. After a beat of silence, he went on. "Well, I suppose that doesn't really affect me. My role in this remains unchanged."

And then he was _expanding_ , dark mist trickling towards them. Thirteen held out a finger to use their Quirk on the villain. _That's an effective way of dealing with it,_ Izuku thought. _Maybe not the most heroic, but he doesn't_ deserve _to be treated heroically if he wants to harm All Might._

That was when Bakugou and Kirishima rushed at him. Bakugou launched an explosion at the mist while Kirishima slashed at it. The mist started dispersing from where they had attacked. _Idiots! Thirteen can't fire off Black Hole when there are_ students _in the way! Fuck!_

"Not if we end _you_ first," Bakugou snarled.

"Betcha didn't see that coming!" Kirishima taunted.

Almost as quickly as the misty villain had been drifting apart, he reformed. "That was close," he said, voice calm and still unfittingly cordial. "You truly are the best of the best, even though you're only students. It's very impressive."

"Get back!" Thirteen shouted. "Both of you! Now!"

"I apologize for this," the villain said, and yeah, there was _definitely_ some amount of regret in what he was saying. "But you're going to have to leave now."

And then, suddenly, Izuku was engulfed in dark mist along with the rest of the class.

"I hope that your deaths, should you encounter them, are as quick and painless as possible."

Izuku found himself plummeting into the waters of the Flood Zone.

* * *

Izuku was soaked to the bone, but that hardly mattered.

 _I have to get back to the main area,_ Izuku thought, _I need to go and start taking out those pieces of shit before they overtake Aizawa and Thirteen._

"It seems that we're in some trouble here, kero," Tsuyu commented idly. Mineta was curled up against the rail of the ship, shaking. Whether it was from fear or being drenched in water, Izuku didn't know or care about.

"That mist villain said that they know our schedule," Izuku muttered, mind racing. "The simplest explanation that makes the most sense is that they were the ones that caused the media rush yesterday and obtained that information during the chaos. They were looking for a chance and they were prepared enough to get this many villains together on short notice. They're a serious threat. We can't afford to underestimate them."

"But there's no _way_ that they could kill All Might!" Mineta declared. "He'll come and trash'em!"

 _…_ _How did someone so fucking stupid and disgusting get into the hero program at U.A?_ Izuku wondered, not for the first time.

"They must have figured out a way to kill them," Tsuyu said. "They wouldn't have come here otherwise. They're not dumb enough to try that, like Midoriya-chan said. That one guy said that he wanted to kill us, too, kero. Who says that we can even hold out long enough for All Might to get here? And even if we do, who's to say that they won't kill him."

Mineta stood there with a comic look of horror across his face. He then grabbed at Izuku's arm and wailed, "Midoriya-kun!"

Izuku hastily jerked his arm out of Mineta's grasp. He didn't bother to keep his tone from being harsh. "Get off of me and pull yourself together. We're surrounded by a group of villains whose Quirks give them an advantage in this area and they won't hesitate to kill us. We need to come up with a plan to beat them and get back to everyone else. We need to defeat them before they can hurt All Might or Aizawa-sensei or Thirteen or anyone else."

Oh god. Iida and Uraraka.

 _They better be okay._

 _I hope that they're okay._

 _I'll_ kill _the villains if they're hurt._

"But why are they doing this?" Mineta whined.

"Who the hell cares?" Izuku snapped. "It doesn't matter _why_ they're doing it. The important part is that they may have a _chance_ of beating All Might. That means we can't afford to lose. We have to _win_."

"How can we possibly win, you dumbass!" Mineta cried, voice pitiful and disgusting. "You just said that these guys are strong enough to kill All Might! You're—"

Izuku couldn't bring himself to feel guilty for backhanding Mineta across the face. His only regret was that he didn't try to add the Burst technique to it.

"Just shut up and _think_ ," Izuku hissed. "Panicking is of absolutely no use to us right now."

"So _mean_!" Mineta gasped. Izuku ignored him in favor of turning to Tsuyu.

"Those guys down there all have Quirks that are suited for aquatic combat," Izuku pointed out.

"So the ringleaders must have recruited their teams while knowing what the areas of U.S.J. are, kero," Tsuyu said.

"Exactly," Izuku agreed. "They must have had information on that much at the very least. But they were sloppy in gathering their intel."

"What makes you say that, Midoriya-chan?" Tsuyu asked.

"Because they send you, Tsuyu-san, to the Flood Zone," Izuku said. "If they knew what all of our Quirks were, they would _never_ have done that."

"You're right, kero," Tsuyu said. "They would have warped me anywhere else if they knew, probably to the Fire Zone."

"Exactly. That must be why their plan was to scatter us around U.S.J. and overwhelm us with numbers rather than choosing which terrains we'd be the worst off in," Izuku concluded. "They have us beat when it comes to numbers and experience, so we'll have to exploit the fact that they don't know our Quirks for all that it's worth."

What followed was a brief synopsis of what their Quirks were and how they worked. Tsuyu's Quirk was more powerful than Izuku had originally thought, but it wasn't surprising. Mineta's had been almost exactly what Izuku had guessed it was, though he hadn't known that overuse would cause Mineta to bleed. Izuku took note of it in case he ever needed to exploit it in the future.

Just as Mineta was crying over how useless he was, Izuku felt the boat rumble and pitch to the side as one of the villains used their Quirk to _break_ it.

"So strong!" Tsuyu commented. "He split the boat in two."

 _We're really on the clock now,_ Izuku thought, _We have about a minute before we're completely underwater, and that's being generous._

Mineta was full out blubbering and crying by this point. Izuku didn't have time for him.

"… Tsuyu-san," Izuku said after about five seconds.

"Kero?"

"Would you be able to catch me midair and get me to safety?" Izuku asked.

"Yes," Tsuyu said, "What are you planning?"

"Something really dumb," Izuku admitted. Loathe as he was to do so, Izuku turned to face Mineta. The plan would be more effective if Izuku could utilize _all_ of their Quirks. "Hey. Stop crying. You're in the Hero Course, aren't you? All Might isn't always going to be here to save the day. Real bravery is pressing on even when you're afraid. If you ever want to be a Pro Hero, you can't let fear stop you from doing what needs to be done."

Izuku didn't bother to see Mineta's reaction. He turned back to observe the villains. "Tsuyu, catch me the second I call for you. Mineta, once everyone is clustered together, start throwing your balls."

 _Let's hope this works,_ Izuku thought to himself.

With a shout of "Go to hell!" Izuku leaped off of the boat and fired up One For All fully in two of his fingers.

* * *

Two broken fingers and some evasive maneuvers later, Izuku, Tsuyu, and Mineta were wading their way through the shallows of the Flood Zone towards dry land.

 _It's lucky that we managed to get all of them,_ Izuku thought, _That was definitely a big gamble. If they had been smart, they would have had a few of them remain hidden under the surface of the water. I guess they just weren't thinking ahead. Still, from here on out, we need to be careful._

"Stop it, Midoriya-chan. That's scary," Tsuyu said.

 _Right. I need to work on keeping my internal dialogue_ internal.

"So what should we do now?" Tsuyu asked.

"Right." Izuku rolled his shoulders back, doing his best to ignore the pain in his fingers. "Our top priority right now is calling for help. If at all possible, we should make our way along the shoreline towards the exit and steer clear of the plaza."

"Okay, kero," Tsuyu said. "It looks like Aizawa-sensei is drawing them all to the plaza."

Izuku let his gaze be drawn to the fight. "… There are too many of them. Of course he's holding his own out there, but it's too much for him. He _knew_ that but he jumped in anyway to protect us."

Izuku felt something swell in his heart. He hadn't known Aizawa long and his opinion of the man had been one that was largely indifferent. But here he was, risking his life just to make sure that his students were safe. Aizawa hadn't even _hesitated_ before jumping into the fray.

Aizawa wasn't on the same level in Izuku's heart as his mom or All Might or Iida or Uraraka, but he had definitely secured himself a place on the short list of people Izuku cared about.

"We need to look for an opening for us to start helping Aizawa-sensei," Izuku said.

"Are you _stupid,_ Midoriya-kun?" Mineta asked, voice trembling.

"I'm not saying that we should dive right in," Izuku told them, though he was mostly talking to Tsuyu at the moment. "We should keep an eye out for when we can jump in to lighten Aizawa-sensei's load."

They all watched as Aizawa continued to take down the villains one-by-one. Izuku soon noticed the man covered in hands start approaching Aizawa. He seemed to be saying something, but Izuku couldn't tell. Then he grabbed Aizawa's elbow.

Aizawa' arm started to _disintegrate_ where the villain had grabbed it. Izuku felt his heart stutter. _What kind of Quirk is that? That seems way too powerful! But no, of course a_ villain _would have such destructive Quirk. Maybe if I play my cards right I can get him to go after Bakugou…_

Aizawa soon punched the villain and put distance between them, dodging two other villains as he did and quickly putting them out of commission, restraining them with his capture weapons and delivering blows strong enough to knock them out cold.

"Oh god," Izuku hissed out as he noticed the giant _monster_ start lumbering towards Aizawa. It could have been a person with a mutation Quirk of some kind, but Izuku had a hard time of equating that thing with an exposed brain to a _human._ "If that thing gets Aizawa he's _screwed_."

"What should we do, Midoriya-chan?" Tsuyu asked.

"… We do what we came to this school to do," Izuku said, pulling himself out of the water. "We be heroes."

Izuku started running as quickly as he could towards the fight. He heard two tell-tale splashes behind him but he didn't bother to slow down and let them catch up.

 _That monster and that man are_ not _allowed to hurt Aizawa,_ Izuku thought, _I won't let them._

That's when the monster pounced on Aizawa. Izuku watched in horror as it slammed Aizawa's head into the ground and snapped his arm like it was nothing more than a _twig._

 _Head-on confrontation right now would probably lead to Aizawa being hurt even more,_ Izuku realized as he changed course and ducked out of sight behind the short wall of the fountain. Tsuyu and Mineta quickly joined him. Izuku held a finger to his lips in the universal signal for silence. Izuku peeked over the divider.

The villain covered in hands was standing there, posture slack but very much favoring his left side. Soon, a cloud of dark mist began forming next to him.

"Shigaraki Tomura," the mist villain greeted, slowly taking a more humanoid shape, complete with a tie and a vest. The outfit reminded Izuku more of a waiter than a villain.

"Kurogiri," Shigaraki returned and _wow_ Kurogiri must have been a codename because that name literally meant 'dark mist.' "Is Thirteen dead?"

"They're incapacitated," Kurogiri answered, "However, there were some students that I was unable to warp away and one of them managed to escape."

Izuku noted with no small amount of interest that Kurogiri didn't sound regretful about that at all. _He must not want to kill any children, but he won't stop it from happening,_ Izuku thought. _We might be able to use that to our advantage but I have no idea how yet._

"Stay here," Izuku whispered. "I'm going to try and get closer."

"Be careful, Midoriya-chan," Tsuyu whispered back.

Izuku started shuffling along the curve of the divider, keeping quiet as he did so.

Shigaraki had started scratching himself vigorously. "Kurogiri," Shigaraki whined. "I'd turn you to dust if you weren't our ticket out of here. We won't stand a chance against dozens of Pro Heroes. It's _game over,_ man. It's game over… for _now_."

Izuku suddenly had a terrible feeling in his stomach as Shigaraki stopped raking his disgusting nails across his skin.

"We're leaving," Shigaraki said.

 _No,_ Izuku thought, shifting his stance so that he was prepared to move at the drop of a hat. _They're not leaving that easily without meeting their objective. There's no way._

"But before that," Shigaraki continued, "let's leave a few dead kids to wound the Symbol of Peace's pride."

And suddenly, Shigaraki was in front of Izuku, hand outstretched. He was a lot faster than Izuku would have guessed. Had Izuku been less aware of his surroundings, then Shigaraki would have easily grabbed onto his face and completely disintegrated him.

 _Too bad I was ready for him._

Izuku activated Burst and punched Shigaraki right in the stomach. Shigaraki went flying backwards, grunting as he was hit. The villain hit the ground with a dull _thud_ and rolled back for a good ten feet. He laid there, making no attempts to get up.

"… Okay," Shigaraki said, his voice muffled by the ground and the hand over his face _._ "That was a cool move, I'll admit it. I _hate_ it when my Sneak Attack doesn't give me advantage on attacks and bonus damage, but still, cool."

Shigaraki shambled back to his feet. Izuku knew it was _stupid,_ but he charged the villain while he was getting back up. Shigaraki, almost faster than Izuku could really see, was standing again and running _past_ Izuku, far enough away that neither was able to attack the other.

 _He's trying to get to Tsuyu and Mineta._

Izuku turned as quickly as he could and used Burst to launch himself after Shigaraki.

He wasn't fast enough.

Shigaraki already had a hand on Tsuyu's face. Tsuyu _screamed._

 _No. Please, no._

The moment Shigaraki's hand made contact with Tsuyu, her tongue shot out, slamming into Shigaraki's stomach— _he's_ definitely _bruised there by now_ —and throwing him back once more.

Tsuyu's face was bleeding _everywhere_ from where her skin had been disintegrated. It sounded like she way crying. _Hurt but alive,_ Izuku thought. _Better than being dead._

Izuku raced over to where Shigaraki was still lying on the ground.

 _He hurt Aizawa and Tsuyu. He's going to hurt Uraraka and Iida. He wants to_ kill _All Might._

 _He can't do that if I kill him first._

 _Today is the day he_ dies.

"Noumu," Shigaraki whispered as Izuku was on top of him, pulling back to punch this _fucker._

Izuku fired up the full power of One For All once again, this time in his _whole arm._ This would kill Shigaraki. There was no way it wouldn't.

Izuku couldn't help but smile. Shigaraki's one visible eye widened ever so slightly. Then Izuku decked him.

 _It doesn't hurt. Why doesn't it hurt?_

 _The thing I hit is too sturdy. Shigaraki isn't this sturdy._

 _Something is wrong._

Izuku looked up.

Izuku gaped up at the monster that had _broken_ Aizawa. _How in the love of_ fuck _did this thing get in front of me so quickly? Is… is this how they're going to kill All Might? With is this_ thing _?_

"That was… quite a move that you pulled off," Shigaraki said from behind the monster. "But that look on your face when you did it… are you really training to be a hero? That's interesting. Well, whatever."

Izuku then found his arm being _seized_ by the monster and pulled forwards.

 _No. I can't die yet,_ Izuku thought, panicked. _I need to make sure that Iida and Uraraka is okay. I need to save Aizawa. I have to protect All Might._

 _I still need to kill Bakugou._

Suddenly, the main doors flew off of their hinges with a loud _boom_.

 _All Might. He's here,_ Izuku thought as he saw the man coming through the hole where the doors had once been.

Izuku caught a glance of All Might's face.

The man wasn't smiling.

Izuku grinned.

 _Oh, these guys are_ fucked.


	8. Origins: Part VIII

"I've been waiting, hero," Shigaraki croaked out. "You worthless trash."

All Might continued _glaring_ at Shigaraki and holy _hell_ did that look weird but it was a feeling that Izuku could get behind.

"I had a bad feeling, so I cut off my chat with the principal short and came over right away," All Might said, voice lacking its usual cheer as he stepped forwards. "I ran into Iida-kun along the way."

 _Kurogiri mentioned that one of the students had escaped earlier,_ Izuku thought. _That must have been Iida!_

That was one person that Izuku no longer had to worry about, at least.

"He told me the gist of what was going on," All Might continued. All Might took a deep breath. With a fierce glare that was somewhat off putting, All Might ripped off his tie. "Fear not. I am _here_."

All Might's furious visage was truly something to behold. Izuku _loved_ it. It promised the worst kind of pain imaginable to anyone who would _dare_ cross All Might. It wasn't a heroic thought, but Izuku could not have cared less about that in that moment.

All Might leaped from the entrance and down into the plaza. In the blink of an eye, he took out _every single villain_ between him and Aizawa. All Might stood over Aizawa before he bent down and gently picked Aizawa up, muttering something that Izuku was unable to make out. All Might then turned to face them; Shigaraki, Noumu, Tsuyu, Mineta, and Izuku.

Before Izuku even knew what was going on, he was out of the grip of Noumu and in All Might's arms along with his two classmates and Aizawa. Soon, they were all at a fairly safe distance away from Shigaraki and Noumu. All Might set them all down.

Tsuyu was no longer crying, but her face was bleeding freely now. It made Izuku's rage burn even brighter. _These complete assholes. They should all just fucking_ die _painful deaths. It better be slow as fuck, too._

All Might effortlessly tore off a piece of his button-down shirt and handed it to Tsuyu. "Use this to clear the blood from your eyes. Now quickly, get to the entrance. Take Aizawa. He's unconscious, so hurry!"

Mineta was blubbering somewhere in the background. Izuku ignored him. He was staring at All Might. _He doesn't look so good,_ Izuku thought. _It's not obvious, but… he's not doing great right now. And considering the news reports this morning about how he saved all those people? He's pushing himself. He's either at or over his limit._

 _This fight needs to end,_ fast. _Preferably with the death of Dusty Hands McFuck Face._

"Ah," Shigaraki moaned, leaning down to pick up one of the hands that had fallen off of his costume. "I'm sorry, father…" Shigaraki put his hand prop back in place over his face. "Throwing punches to save people…" Shigaraki chuckled. "That's our state sanctioned violence for you. You're fast. Too fast to keep up with, but not as fast as I expected. Could it really be true…? That you're getting _weaker_?"

All Might straightened himself out and took a step towards the villains. Izuku _glared_ at Shigaraki, his mind supplying him with all of the ways he would _love_ to see Shigaraki being tortured. _Maybe using his own Quirk on himself? That would feel awful, I bet…_

"All Might," Izuku said, not taking his gaze off of Shigaraki and Noumu, "be careful. My Quirk, even at full power, didn't do anything to that _thing_ , Noumu. It didn't even _flinch_. It probably has some ability to nullify force or absorb shock."

"… Young Midoriya," All Might said. He turned to look at Midoriya. All Might held up the classic victory-sign with his two fingers and _smiled._ "Fear not!"

And with that, All Might launched himself at Noumu.

"California _Smash_!" All Might roared as he brought his arms up in an X-shape, slicing at Noumu with his hands. A moment of silence passed after the move made contact. The monster was unfazed.

"Noumu," Shigaraki croaked.

All Might ducked below the Noumu's attempt at grappling him, but just barely.

 _I knew it,_ Izuku thought. _Hitting it isn't going to work, for one reason or another. There has to be another way to beat it!_

Inspiration struck Izuku. He began running towards the entrance, using Burst to propel himself. Once he was at the base of the steps, he raced up, taking them two at a time. "Uraraka! Get down here!"

Uraraka seemed surprised, but she responded almost instantly, racing to meet Izuku halfway. When she was close enough, Izuku yelled, "Use your Quirk on yourself!"

Izuku scooped her up into his arms, ignoring the way his broken fingers _hurt_ as he did so. Uraraka was as light as a feather.

"Deku-kun," Uraraka gasped.

"We're going to do something stupid," Izuku told her, already pivoting and racing back down towards where All Might was fighting Noumu. His legs _ached_ from using Burst so much, but now was _not_ the time to worry about that. "If I can get you close enough, can you use your Quirk on Noumu?"

"I—yeah, I can," Uraraka was looking at Noumu with no small amount of fear. "What are you planning?"

"Something stupid," Izuku repeated. "Use your Quirk on it for as long as you can, okay?"

"Okay."

Izuku finally hit the ground of the plaza again. With only five Burst-powered hops, he and Uraraka were right behind Noumu, which had just taken a punch from All Might. While it was distracted from a blow that would have killed _anything_ else, Uraraka reached for it. The second Uraraka's hand tagged it, Izuku used Burst to throw her out of the way as quickly as possible. _Sorry, Uraraka, but I would rather you get roughed around from hitting something than let this thing anywhere near you._

Noumu turned to face Izuku. Izuku wasted no time in putting distance between them and _fast._

"Attack All Might!" Shigaraki barked. "I'll deal with the kid."

"All Might, it's zero gravity now!" Izuku yelled as Noumu shifted towards All Might again. " _Throw it_!"

Shigaraki was racing at Izuku. Izuku used Burst to start to run away as quickly as he could.

On his second firing of Burst, his aching legs and the overuse of his Quirk finally took its toll. He activated it too early. He tripped. Within half of a second, he was on the ground. Izuku _scrambled_ to get up, slowed by pain, but was forced back into the ground as a foot slammed onto his back.

" _Game over_ , kid," Shigaraki's voice came from above him. "You've been a _pain_ in the ass, you know? I _hate_ people like you. It's a good thing that you can't respawn."

Izuku felt five fingers dig into his scalp and waited for the intense pain of being turned into dust and _dying._

Nothing happened.

"... You really are something, aren't you?" Shigaraki said, sounding almost dazed. "Eraserhead."

Izuku shifted his head enough to loop up. Aizawa was being held up by a still-bleeding Tsuyu. His eyes were red and his hair was floating upwards.

 _Yeah,_ Izuku thought somewhat hysterically, _Aizawa is probably the second best teacher I've ever had. Right behind All Might._

Soon enough, Tsuyu's tongue shot out and hit Shigaraki in the chest, sending him toppling to the ground and off of Izuku. Izuku quickly scrambled to his feet.

"Got it!"

Izuku turned towards All Might's voice. The man had both of his arms wrapped around one of Noumu's legs while the beast was off-balance.

 _Uraraka's Quirk negates air resistance,_ Izuku thought. _All he needs to do now is launch it into space._

"No no no no no," Shigaraki gasped. "Don't you dare kill my tank, I _need_ him—"

"North Carolina _Toss_!" All Might roared, swinging around, Noumu still in his arms. It was absolutely effortless.

"No—!"

And then Noumu was sailing out of All Might's arms, so fast that it was a blur. Glass shattered as it flew straight upwards through the glass dome covering U.S.J. Soon enough, it was impossible to spot it as it kept flying higher, never once slowing down. Izuku started counting in his head.

"Uraraka, hold it for sixty seconds!" Izuku yelled.

"What?" Uraraka asked. Izuku glanced her over. She seemed mostly fine with only a visible cut or two, but she was obviously tired.

"Sixty seconds!" Izuku said again. "That's at least how long it should take for it to reach space. Can you hold it for that long?"

"Yeah, I can," Uraraka told him, a determined expression on her face.

"You _cheated_!" Shigaraki rasped. "You fucking _cheated_! You _cheaters_ , you should be _banned_ from the global server and I should—"

"You were right," All Might's voice rang across the plaza, loud and clear. "I _have_ grown weaker. In my heyday, I would have charged head-on. But you know what they say. Even an old hero can learn new tricks!"

" _Weakened_?" Shigaraki's voice sounded like the man was on the verge of hysteria. "Not that I can see… you're sending my precious Noumu into _orbit_. We're clearly outmatched here… you damn cheaters! All Might hasn't weakened at all! Was I _lied_ to?"

"It's over, villain," All Might cut him off. "Now, how about we hurry this up and finish it?"

Shigaraki took a step back. "Kurogiri!"

A cloud of dark mist formed besides Shigaraki. "Yes?"

"We're fighting All Might _right now_ ," Shigaraki hissed. "And we're going to _win_. He needed _help_ to send Noumu into space, right? Maybe we can take him."

"Shigaraki Tomura, I would highly advise against that," Kurogiri said, tone neutral. "Noumu couldn't even land a single hit. Excuse me for saying so, but I don't think that you'll be able to do much better."

"Shut _up_ ," Shigaraki barked. "We came here to kill the Symbol of Peace, so that's what—"

A bullet pierced through Shigaraki's hand. He yelled in pain and stumbled towards Kurogiri. Kurogiri reached out to steady him.

"Sorry everyone. We're a little late."

Izuku turned in the direction of the voice.

In the entrance stood more Pro Heroes in one place than Izuku had ever seen together at once before; Cementoss, Snipe, Ectoplasm, Blood King, Midnight, Present Mic, Hound Dog, and Principal-san. In front of them, ragged and out of breath, stood Iida.

"President of Class 1-A, Iida Tenya," Iida called out. "Reporting for duty!"

 _He's okay,_ Izuku sighed in relief. _I heard it before, but you can be sure of it now. Everyone is alright._

"They're here," Shigaraki hissed. "This is _game over_. Guess we gotta try again another time, Kurogiri—"

More gunshots were fired as Snipe took aim. Shigaraki was grazed several times, but managed to twist out of the way of most of the shots.

"Good-for-nothings like yourselves don't have a shot at us from that distance!" Snipe taunted.

Kurogiri quickly shifted to form another portal. Shigaraki quickly jumped inside of it.

"I may have failed here today, Symbol of Peace," Shigaraki rasped from the safety of Kurogiri's portal, "but mark my words, the next time we meet, not even your cheap tricks and cheat codes will save you then. You're a dead man, All Might."

And with that, Kurogiri's portal winked out of existence, Shigaraki vanishing with him.

"They just fled?" Midnight asked no one in particular. "After such a dramatic invasion?"

Izuku felt himself jump as he remembered. "Uraraka-chan, release it!"

"Already did, Deku-kun. I was keeping count," Uraraka smiled at him. She was tired and shaking, but she was okay and she hadn't thrown up. "That was really smart. I can't believe that I didn't think to do something like that."

"We were all panicking," Izuku said. "Besides, that _thing_ was terrifying and there was no way that we could have taken it on. That would have been the height of stupidity."

"As stupid as running up to it to touch it?" Uraraka teased.

"There's a fine line between stupidity and bravery," Izuku said sagely. "We just stuck one foot over the border."

"Midoriya-kun! Uraraka-san!"

Iida was running over to them, engines firing. As soon as he was close enough, he pulled both of them into a hug. "You two are alright! I'm so happy! I was so worried about you, especially you, Midoriya-kun, after you were warped away!"

"It's okay now, Iida-kun," Izuku reassured him. "He dumped Tsuyu-san, Mineta, and me in the Flood Zone. There were a bunch of villains, but we handled it."

"You beat a bunch of villain?" Uraraka gasped. "You didn't mention that!"

"Oh, yeah," Izuku said. "We did. I ended up breaking two of my fingers, but other than that and some bruising from using Burst too much, I'm fine."

"You carried me with _two fingers_ broken?" Uraraka gaped at him. Iida was making a noise of distress that Izuku hadn't realized that most humans could make.

"Um, yes?"

"Deku-kun, if you didn't already have two broken fingers then I would slap you right now," Uraraka said.

"You know what, that's fair."

"You need to see Recovery Girl!" Iida all but shouted.

"I will, but not before Aizawa-sensei and Tsuyu-san do," Izuku insisted. "They need her help right now more than I do."

At their teacher's name, Uraraka looked over to where the dazed and probably concussed man was being gently picked up by Blood King. "Aizawa-sensei is really amazing."

"Yeah," Izuku breathed out. "He really is."

"Well!" All Might's voice, full once more of its usual cheer, boomed across the plaza. "I must go and speak to the police about what has happened! Make sure that the injured are brought to safety!" With that, All Might rushed out.

 _He really is running out of time,_ Izuku thought. _Otherwise he would have stuck around to make sure that everyone was alright himself._

"You heard All Might!" Iida said. "Let us get you to safety so you can receive medical assistance!"

"But I'm—"

Iida cut him off. "Midoriya-kun, two broken fingers does _not_ count as being uninjured!"

"I mean, you're not wrong," Izuku conceded. "But—"

"Nope!" Uraraka chirped. She grabbed one of his arms. Her smile was sugary sweet and promised unimaginable pain if Izuku refused to cooperate. "C'mon, you're coming with us and there's nothing you can do about it!"

As Uraraka and Iida gently but firmly led him to receive treatment, Izuku told himself that things could have turned out a _lot_ worse.

 _Too bad none of those villains died, especially Shigaraki. That would have been_ perfect.

* * *

Apparently, the ambulance that was rushing back to U.A. had already left and Izuku needed to wait for the next one to come and take him to Recovery Girl's office. Uraraka and Iida tried to convince the paramedics to do _something_ but they firmly insisted that this was out of their abilities to treat. Izuku figured that was fair, seeing as he had no idea how to treat the soup inside of his fingers, either. It wouldn't take too long for Recovery Girl to get around to him. He just had to tough it out.

That became considerably more difficult when the adrenaline started wearing off. Uraraka and Iida tried to strike up a conversation about some television show that Izuku had never heard of before in an attempt to distract him. Even if it didn't do much good, Izuku appreciated the effort. He did his best to follow along with the conversation, nodding where it seemed appropriate to do so. He couldn't keep the fond smile off of his face.

The man who had introduced himself as Detective Tsukauchi came up to the class. "Well, it appears that with the exception of Midoriya-san and Asui-san, everyone is mostly unharmed."

Izuku did his best not to glare. _Oh yeah, with the exception of the teacher who got fucking pulverized, the girl whose_ face _was disintegrated, and the boy with two broken fingers, everyone is_ completely _okay after that traumatic incident. Fucking dumbass._

"Detective," Izuku called. "How is Aizawa-sensei doing?"

"Both of his arms were smashed to splinters. His face is also fractured, but, thankfully, he doesn't have any brain damage. His eyes sockets… they've been pulverized. There's a chance that he might suffer permanent vision loss or impairment." Tsukauchi's face was completely blank as he rattled everything off. "Or, so I've heard."

Yeah, that didn't make Izuku feel any better. At least he could tell that Tsukauchi was being honest, though. That counted for something.

"Thirteen has severe lacerations across their back and upper arms, but their injuries aren't life-threatening," Tsukauchi continued. "Asui-san is going to be fine, though there's a good chance that her injury will lead to scarring on her face."

 _Of fucking course,_ Izuku gritted his teeth. _Not even a week after Bakugou fucking_ marks _Uraraka and another student is scarred. What kind of shit show_ is _this?_

Speaking of Bakugou…

Izuku glanced over at him. Bakugou hadn't been killed— _What a pity, even if it gives me longer to make him suffer_ —but he seemed to be shaken. He had rushed into the plaza not long after All Might had rushed out, itching for a fight. Then he had heard that everything was already over thanks to Aizawa's perseverance, Izuku's quick thinking, Uraraka's Quirk, Iida's run for help, and All Might's amazing strength. Izuku had _loved_ seeing Bakugou's face fall when Bakugou realized that even when they weren't fighting each other, Izuku had still _won._ Izuku had taken out the villains faster than Bakugou had and he had come up with a plan to eliminate the threat before Bakugou even arrived on the scene.

 _Eat that, you absolute walnut fucker,_ Izuku thought vindictively.

"Deku-kun!" Uraraka exclaimed. "The ambulance!"

Izuku was jerked out of his musings. Sure enough, the ambulance was rolling up. Iida and Uraraka began tugging him towards it. Izuku didn't bother to tell them that he could walk over on his own.

He didn't want to.

* * *

Izuku stared at the ceiling of Recovery Girl's office as he laid in one of the beds. He already felt better, his fingers mending and his bruises healing. He glanced over at the bed Tsuyu was in.

She was sitting up, eyes blank and far off. Covering her face was a large, pink scar that looked the way fractured glass did when all sorts of cracks were webbing through it. It almost looked like patches of _lightning_ had stitched themselves into her very skin. It was prominent and striking. Izuku imagined that it would be incredibly challenging to cover it up.

"Tsuyu-san?"

"Please, kero," Tsuyu said, her voice somewhat vacant. "Call me Tsuyu-chan. I think we've gone through enough together for you to do that."

"… Tsuyu-chan," Izuku relented. "You can call me Izuku, then."

"Alright, Izuku-chan."

Izuku smiled. "How… how are you feeling?"

"Better now than before," Tsuyu answered honestly. "It was very scary before. And it hurt a lot, too. I'm luck I reacted to quickly and that I was ready for him. I don't think I would have lived otherwise."

"… Tsuyu-chan, that's really dark."

"Yes, but it's true, kero," Tsuyu pointed out. "How is everyone else?"

"Oh, right," Izuku said. "Aizawa is going to live but… he got hurt really badly. I guess the most dangerous thing I heard is that he might lose his eyesight. But other than that he's going to be okay."

"That's a big 'but,'" Tsuyu said.

"I know," Izuku sighed. "Thirteen has pretty bad cuts and lacerations, but they'll be completely okay, too. Then there's us. We're expected to make a full recovery before the day is out. So there's at least something going our way today."

"That's not much, kero," Tsuyu said.

"I know."

"Izuku-chan?"

"Yeah?"

"What does my face look like? Be honest, please."

Izuku stared at Tsuyu's scar for a few more seconds. "It looks like someone painted pink lightning all over your face."

"Would you say that it looks cool?" Tsuyu asked. There was no insecurity in her voice, only idle curiosity.

"I don't really think that scars are cool," Izuku told her. "But if it wasn't a scar? Yeah, I think that it would looks pretty cool."

Tsuyu smiled at him. "Thank you, Izuku-chan."

"Of course, Tsuyu-chan."

Izuku laid back down and closed his eyes.

 _Shigaraki… the League of Villains…_

 _I'll kill them._

 _I'll kill them all for what they've done today._

It was another promise. Another vow.

Izuku fully intended to keep it. He didn't know how yet, but he would. Of that, he was certain.

* * *

 **I won't bore you all with a super long spiel, but I need to let you know how I've changed Kurogiri's Quirks in such a way that he won't Break The World.**

 **So, Kurogiri. He has what is arguably the strongest Quirk in the show. He can teleport at will and also warp other people. We don't know his maximum distance or the limit on portal sizes or how many people he can bring through (I will address this later in the fic though. Probably). Combine this with the fact that he can apparently use his Warp Gates to cut people in pieces, and he becomes ridiculously overpowered. Since it's only ever really brought up in U.S.J. and is far too powerful, I'm taking away Kurogiri's ability to cut people in half using Warp Gate. The fact that he's not really used in combat outside of U.S.J. is dumbfounding to me if he truly has that capability.**


	9. Origins: Part IX

His mom had wrapped Izuku up in a fierce hug as soon as he had gotten home. She had been crying, tears streaming down her face as she babbled about how worried and afraid she had been and how much she _loved_ him. Izuku hadn't been able to hold back his own sobs at just how _distressed_ his mom was. He had hugged her back and whispered apologies and reassurances.

They had stood in the door for almost half an hour, just holding each other. When they had finally gone inside, they had curled up together on the couch, just taking comfort in being near each other and eating junk food and keeping the television on for background noise.

They got a call later in the evening informing them that classes at U.A. were cancelled the next day. It wasn't hard to figure out why.

They got ready for bed and, without saying anything, Izuku went to sleep in his mom's bed. He hadn't done it for _years_ now, not since he was a little kid, but… it felt like the right thing to do. He wanted to stay close to his mom.

She hugged him as he got under the covers. "I love you, Izuku," she whispered, her voice firm and warm. "I want you to be safe and happy. I love you."

"I love you too, mom," Izuku muttered back. "I'm sorry."

"Don't apologize," she told him. "It's not your fault. Please, just do your best to stay safe. I… I can't imagine what I would do if something happened to you."

"I'll do my best," Izuku said. "I promise."

She held him close. Izuku could feel her shaking.

It wasn't until a few hours later that either of them managed to fall asleep.

* * *

Izuku was planning to spend part of his day training and then the rest of it with his mom. He had just gotten back home from his morning run when the phone rang.

"I'll get it!" Izuku called into the apartment.

"Okay!" His mom yelled back.

After a mad, ten second scramble, Izuku found the phone and picked up. "Hello?"

"Midoriya-kun?"

Izuku blinked. "Iida-kun, is that you? How did you get this number?"

"Yes, it is I!" Iida's voice rang out with the distinct cadence that Izuku instantly associated with him. "Aizawa-sensei gave Yaoyorozu-san and myself a full list of the students in Class 1-A since we are the class co-presidents! Was… is calling you before asking if I could do so a bad thing?"

"No, it's fine," Izuku hurried to assure him. He didn't need or want Iida feeling bad over calling him. His friends should _never_ feel bad for wanting to talk to him. "Were you calling about anything in particular?"

"Yes, I was!" Iida said, his voice back to its regular, upbeat tone. "I was jogging earlier and I had an idea! Seeing as there is no class today, I was wondering whether or not you, Uraraka-san, and myself would wish to 'hang out' together!"

The way Iida said "hang out" was so choppy and off-kilter that Izuku came to the conclusion that Iida had never used those words like that before. Izuku stopped himself from chuckling—definitely _not_ giggling. "Yeah, sure. That sounds great. I just need to ask my mom and make sure that it's okay with her first. What were you thinking of doing?"

"… I didn't think of that," Iida admitted.

"That's fine!" Izuku told him. "We can always think of something!"

"What would you recommend?" Iida asked.

"Um," Izuku said. "I don't know? I didn't really have friends until I met you and Uraraka-chan, so I don't really have many ideas."

"… Oh," Iida said, his voice small.

"… Yeah, I guess—"

"Then we have many years to make up for!" Iida declared, his voice loud and determined. "The three of us will have the best 'hang out' in the history of all of U.A! I won't let you down, Midoriya-kun!"

Izuku couldn't stop laughter from bubbling up and out of him. "You're the best, Iida-kun. Thank you. Oh, and, uh…"

"Yes?"

"You can call me Izuku, if you want," Izuku told him. "I feel like we've been through enough together by now that you can use my first name. If you want."

"I would be _honored_ ," Iida said, something not unlike reverence coloring his words. "Thank you… Izuku-kun. You may also call me by my first name!"

Izuku smiled. "Thank you for letting me, Tenya-kun."

Iida—no, _Tenya_ —laughed pleasantly. "You're very welcome. I'll call Uraraka-san and ask her if she wishes to join in on whatever it is that we shall be doing together. Hopefully she will have some exciting ideas!"

"Alright," Izuku said. "I'll talk to you later, then."

"Yes, goodbye for now, Izuku-kun!" Tenya said.

"Bye, Tenya-kun."

Izuku hung up the phone.

His mom came into the room. _She must have been waiting before coming in so that I could have some privacy,_ Izuku realized. God, he loved his mom so _much._

"Who was that?" she asked him.

"Ah, that was Tenya-kun," Izuku answered. "He's in Class 1-A with me at U.A. I think that I mentioned him before? He's Iida-kun."

"You're using his first name?" she asked. She didn't seem like she was judging him at all, just curious.

"Yeah," Izuku said. "Just… after everything, I feel like… it's okay."

His mom smiled at him, though Izuku could tell it was stained with a small amount of nerves. _Yeah, having your son and a bunch of other kids go through a life-threatening incident probably doesn't put you at ease._ Still, she seemed genuinely happy. "I'm so glad that you're making such wonderful friends, Izuku! What did Iida-kun call about?"

"Oh! He wanted to know if I wanted to hang out with him and Uraraka-chan," Izuku said. "We don't really know what we're doing or when or anything yet, but Tenya-kun thought that it might be nice to all just get together outside of school."

His mom's eyes welled up with tears. "Oh _Izuku_."

"I know," Izuku grinned, his mom's tears—even ones of joy—causing his own eyes to grow watery. "I have friends, mom."

She ran over to him and hugged him. Izuku squeezed his arms around her in return.

* * *

Not even ten minutes later, the phone rang again. Izuku picked it up. "Hello?"

"Izuku-kun!" Tenya greeted. "I have asked Ochako-san if she wants to 'hang out' and she agreed to it! She also told me to inform you that you are welcome to use her first name as well!"

"Oh," Izuku said. "Okay. I'll have to thank her and tell her she can call me Izuku when I see her."

"That would be most advisable!" Tenya agreed. "Now, Ochako-san was kind enough to speak with me about the most common ways that students typically hang out! She recommended that we go over to someone's house or going to the park or getting ice cream!"

"Ice cream two times in one week?" Izuku teased. "That doesn't sound like you, Tenya-kun."

"I am aware!" Tenya said. "That is why I believe that it is best to choose one of the other options!"

Izuku exhaled sharply through his nose. "Well, it would be nice to just stay inside and lounge around, you know? Especially after… well."

"Ah, yes," Tenya said. "I understand completely. Now it is simply a question of whose home!"

"Mine would work," Izuku said. "It's not the nicest place ever, but me and my mom keep it clean and I think that we have some board games somewhere. And if that fails, we can always watch a dumb movie and complain about how dumb it is."

"… Do people really do that? My brother mentioned it once or twice, but I had assumed that he was joking."

"Oh, yeah. It's really fun," Izuku replied. "I know that I like to commentate on movies when they're stupid. I like to think that some of what I say is really funny."

"I am sure that your comments are the peak of hilarity, Izuku-kun!"

Izuku almost choked on his own spit. He could feel his face heating up. "Oh my _god_ , Tenya-kun."

"What is it?"

"Nothing," Izuku said. "Just wait one second. I need to ask my mom if it's okay for you guys to come over."

"Of course!"

Izuku pulled the phone away from his ear and covered the mouthpiece. "Hey, mom?"

His mom's head poked from outside of the kitchen. "Yes?"

"Um," Izuku took in a deep breath. "Can Tenya-kun and Ochako-chan come over and hang out here today?"

She gasped. "Oh, well of _course_ they can! I'm sure we can find some of our old board games and make some snacks for them. Maybe you could rent a movie?"

Izuku smiled, soft and warm. "Thanks, mom. I don't know what we're going to do yet. I still need to tell Tenya-kun that you said yes."

"Oh! You're still on the call! Well, don't let me keep you!"

"I love you, mom."

"Love you too, Izuku," she smiled as she headed back into the kitchen.

Izuku uncovered the phone and held it to his ear again. "She said yes."

"That's wonderful!" Tenya said. "I will inform Ochako-san immediately! I look forward to seeing you, Izuku-kun!"

"Yeah, it'll be nice to hang out outside of school again," Izuku said. "Oh, you probably need my address. And, uh, what time do you want to come over at?"

"Would… would two in the afternoon work?"

"Yeah, I'm free all day."

"Fantastic!"

Izuku told Tenya his address and Tenya promised once more to relay the information to Ochako. With one last goodbye, Izuku hung up again.

 _I'm having friends over to my home. I have friends who are willing to go out of their way to be around me._

 _Fucking suck it, Bakugou._

* * *

At exactly two o'clock, there was a knock on the door. Izuku immediately sprang up from the sofa to get it and _raced_ to the front door. "I got it, mom!"

Izuku could hear her laughing. "Okay, sweetie!"

Izuku stopped in front of the door and took a deep breath. He opened the door. Standing there was Tenya, somewhat stiff and holding a gift bag of some sort.

"Hello! Sorry for the intrusion!" Tenya all but barked. Izuku couldn't help but smile at how formal and prim he was being.

"Come on in," Izuku said, standing aside to let Tenya past him.

After a bit of shuffling around, Tenya had removed his shoes and placed on the guest slippers that, for almost as long as Izuku could remember, he had never had need of before.

"Ah, here! For you, Izuku-kun!" Tenya announced, holding out the gift bag for Izuku. "It's nothing special—simply tea—but please accept it!"

 _So formal!_ Izuku thought as he took the bag. "Thank you, Tenya-kun. I really appreciate it."

"Of course!"

"Oh, Izuku, is this your friend?"

Izuku turned around to see his mom walking towards them. "Ah, right! Mom, this is Iida Tenya. Tenya-kun, this is my mom, Midoriya Inko."

"It is a pleasure to meet you, Midoriya-san!" Tenya said. "Thank you for allowing me to come to your home!"

His mom smiled warmly in the way that only she could. "It's no trouble at all. I'm so happy that Izuku has made such a wonderful friend."

Tenya bowed at the waste. "I hope to prove myself worthy of such praise, Midoriya-san!"

Izuku and his mom traded smiles. _He's silly,_ her smile seemed to say.

 _I know,_ said Izuku's.

"Well, I'm going to go in my room for a while," his mom said. "I am sure that You two can find something to do. It was nice to meet you, Iida-kun. Have fun!"

Once the door to his mom's room closed, Izuku turned to Tenya. "You can stop bowing now."

Tenya's spine straightened out in an instant. "I am simply being as polite as I must be for the situation!"

Izuku shook his head fondly. "Yeah, I figured as much. Still, we're friends, Tenya-kun. I wouldn't worry about it too much."

"… If you're sure," Tenya relented.

"I am," Izuku said. "Now, let's go and—"

There was another knock on the door. Izuku grinned as he opened it.

"Ochako-chan!" Izuku greeted upon seeing the familiar face of his friend.

"Deku-kun!" Ochako cheered, throwing her arms around him in a hug. "Sorry for the intrusion!"

Izuku laughed. "I would ask you to come in, but I think you've already done that!"

"Hush," Ochako told him teasingly as she pulled back. "Here, I brought you this. It's only some chocolate, but I hope that you like it!"

Izuku took the small, wrapped gift from Ochako. "Thank you. Oh, and, uh, you can call me Izuku. If you want."

"I think I'll stick to Deku-kun for now," Ochako said. "I like it a lot and it's like my own special nickname for you!"

Izuku smiled. While he still didn't enjoy being called by the name that Bakugou had used to _degrade_ him, he couldn't find it in himself to tell Ochako to stop.

"That works, too," Izuku said.

Ochako smiled and then looked past him. "Oh! Tenya-kun! You're already here! Hi! One second, just let me get the slippers on…"

"Hello, Ochako-san!" Tenya greeted. "It is good to see you again!"

Izuku watched as Ochako took off her shoes. He noticed that despite the warm weather, she was wearing long sleeves.

 _The scars. She's insecure about them._

Izuku felt his blood _boil._

 _I_ really _need to work on killing Bakugou and making him suffer. Now more than ever, the_ fucker.

"Ochako-chan, let me get my mom," Izuku said after she had gotten the slippers on. "She'd love to meet you!"

Izuku knocked on his mom's door. She was charmed by Ochako's cute mannerism and smile. Ochako seemed equally delighted to meet Izuku's mom.

Once the introductions were out of the way, Izuku led his two friends down the hall and to the main sitting area. "Here, you two sit on the sofa. I'll go and grab another chair."

"Aw, we could all probably fit on it together," Ochako said. "We just need to squeeze in a bit!"

"… Are you sure?" Izuku asked.

"I'm fine with it!" Ochako chirped. "What about you, Tenya-kun?"

"I would not mind!"

"So what do you say, Deku-kun?"

"… Alright," Izuku relented. "Um, do you guys want to watch a movie or play a board game or…?"

"Let's find a bad movie and hate watch it!" Ochako suggested. Tenya quirked a brow at her in an expression that was just so… _Tenya._

Izuku couldn't help it. He giggled.

Tenya and Ochako's gaze snapped onto him, eyes alight with something unfamiliar yet _warm._ Izuku just _knew_ he was going to start getting flustered. _Quick, think of Bakugou._

 _…_

 _Welp, there goes my giddiness._

"That sounds good," Izuku said. "So how are we going to do this?"

It took some time and a little bit of maneuvering, but eventually all three of them managed to squeeze onto the couch. Izuku had ended up in the middle, with Tenya to his left and Ochako to his right. It was a little tight, but not in a way that felt uncomfortable. Ochako's warmth on one side and then Tenya's strength on the other… Izuku loved it. It just felt _right._

Ochako had the remote in her hands and was now turning on the television.

"I don't see why people actually _do_ this," Tenya said. "What's the fun in it?"

"We get to bond over how stupid it is and how much we hate it," Ochako answered. "It will make our friendship even stronger!"

"… somehow I doubt that."

"Just you wait," Ochako said. "Oh! This one looks dumb! And it's free! Perfect!"

Izuku looked at the screen. Ochako was right, it _did_ look stupid. Only one and a half stars? It was bound to be _awful._ Perfect.

Ochako hit the play button.

"… Why are we watching a movie about sharks in a tornado?" Tenya asked, flabbergasted.

Izuku and Ochako shushed him as the movie started.

* * *

"—Even _if_ winds were strong enough to take actual _sharks_ out of the ocean, the sharks wouldn't be attacking! They would be incredibly frightened or _dead,_ not ripping out throats—"

"Oh my gosh, Tenya-kun, that's what makes it _stupid_. Deku-kun, back me up here."

"It is pretty funny, Tenya-kun."

"But the _physics_ and _biology_ —!"

* * *

"Really? They named the main character _Fin_? How obvious can you get? God, this is dumb."

" _Exactly,_ Izuku-kun!"

"Quiet, you two! Let me _watch_."

* * *

"A great white shark is _far_ too heavy to knock aside with some _barstool_ being wielded by a drunkard! This movie was made before the existence of Quirks, yes? There is no conceivable _chance_ that we was strong enough to do that!"

"I don't know, Tenya-kun, that looked like a pretty solid hit to me."

"Oh, you're totally right Deku-kun. Look at those _muscles_."

"You're both _insane_."

"And what of it?"

* * *

"These graphics are _terrible_."

"There was absolutely no shading whatsoever on that obviously fake shark! Who thought that was good idea?"

"Hold on a second guys, I'll look up the budget for the movie."

"You're our true hero, Deku-kun."

"… Oh, that explains the general awfulness of the movie. They only had a little over two hundred million yen to make it."

"Deku-kun, that's a lot—"

"No, most movies have a budget of like, six _billion_ yen at _least_. I just looked it up."

"… Huh. I didn't know that!"

"That still given them no excuse for the terrible script and premise!"

"You're not wrong, Tenya-kun!"

* * *

" _That_ is their solution? Throwing _homemade bombs_ into the _tornadoes_ filled with _sharks_?"

"Seems like a great plan, I don't know what you're talking about Tenya-kun."

" _Izuku-kun_."

"No, he's right, Tenya-kun. What a great idea."

"This _entire movie_ is an _affront_ to _science._ "

"I mean… that's not untrue."

"Still, it's funny!"

* * *

"That," Tenya said once the credits had started to roll, "was, by far, the most _stupid_ and _inane_ thing that I have ever seen in my life."

"You had fun though, right?" Ochako asked.

"I will admit that it was enjoyable, in some odd way," Tenya conceded.

Ochako held up her hand for a high five. Izuku complied.

"You know who would _hate_ this movie?" Izuku asked. "Aizawa-sensei."

"Oh my gosh, you're _right_ ," Ochako gasped. She quickly tried to force her face to look tired and bored. In a _terrible_ imitation of Aizawa's monotone voice, she said, "So irrational. Those sharks could never be heroes. Zero marks."

Izuku couldn't help giggling. He could hear Tenya huff with laughter beside him.

"For real, though," Ochako said, her voice and face back to normal, "Aizawa-sensei is _awesome._ Did you see him at U.S.J? He just took on _everyone_ all by himself and he was _winning_!"

"Aizawa-sensei is a Pro Hero!" Tenya said, hands swinging through the air. Izuku was close enough that he could feel Tenya shift with every movement. "It is to be expected from someone on the top!"

"… I don't know, I thought it was really cool," Izuku said. This wasn't a story that Izuku had planned on telling his two friends, but it painted Bakugou as weak and it was somewhat relevant to the topic at hand so he was willing to share it. "I remember that about a year ago, Bakugou got caught by this slime villain. There were a bunch of Pro Heroes on the scene, but they all said that none of them had the right Quirk for the situation. So Bakugou was being _suffocated_ while surrounded by no less than four Pro Heroes who claimed that they couldn't do _anything_."

"… What happened?" Ochako asked. The mood in the room had grown _far_ more serious by this point.

Izuku shrugged. "I went in to save him. My Quirk hadn't come in yet, which _sucked_ , but I still ran in and hit this villain with my backpack. It bought Bakugou enough time to _breathe_ for All Might to show up and get him out of there."

"That was _you_!" Tenya gasped. "The school boy who saved another student! I remember seeing it on the news!"

"Oh my _god_ , Deku-kun you were a hero even before getting it to U.A!"

"Well, I don't know about _hero_ ," Izuku said. "My point is that what Aizawa-sensei did yesterday was beyond amazing and something that I will _never_ take for granted. He hasn't known us long, but he… he was willing to just…"

Izuku couldn't bring himself to say it.

 _He would have_ died _for us if he had to. He nearly did._

"… You're right, Izuku-kun," Tenya said after a few moments of silence. "We are truly lucky to have Aizawa-sensei as our teacher."

"You _guys_!" Ochako cried. She threw herself over Izuku, stretching her arms around him to grab onto Tenya. "I'm just so _happy_ that you're alright. I was so _scared_ and then Deku-kun got warped _away_ —"

Izuku felt one of Tenya's arms wrap around him and saw the other wrap around Ochako. "We're fine now, though. You two were _amazing_ , fighting villains and defeating Noumu. All I did was run."

"That's not true!" Izuku said. He was now firmly sandwiched between Ochako and Tenya as the two of them hugged him and each other. "You went to go get help. Who _knows_ what would have happened if you hadn't shown up when you did. You did what any true hero would do. Fighting isn't everything, Tenya-kun."

"Yeah, Deku-kun is right!" Ochako said. "I felt so safe and happy when I saw you and all of those Pro Heroes with you!"

Tenya smiled at them. "Thank you," he said softly.

"… You guys are great," Izuku said after a while. "I'm so _happy_ that I'm friends with you."

"I feel the same way!" Ochako chirped. "You guys are the _best_!"

"I can confidently say that you two are my best friends!"

Izuku laughed.

From in between Tenya and Ochako, it felt like there was nothing that could go wrong.

* * *

Going back to school the next day was an uneasy affair. Izuku wasn't exactly looking forward to it, especially since Aizawa likely wouldn't be there. He _desperately_ wanted to thank the man for saving his life and the lives of his friends. Izuku didn't know what he would have done if Ochako or Tenya had gotten hurt.

 _Probably cried and murdered whoever had laid a finger on them,_ Izuku thought.

Izuku stepped into the classroom. It was mostly empty, only Todoroki and Yaoyorozu present so far. Izuku quickly went to take a seat at his desk. Not too long after, other students started to come into the classroom. Izuku paid attention but, honestly, he didn't really care about his other classmates beyond what he could learn about their Quirks.

 _I care about Ochako and Tenya,_ Izuku thought. _And Tsuyu, too, I suppose. Bakugou can_ burn _in hell and_ grovel _at my feet—_

"Izuku-chan."

Izuku jerked out of his musings. "Tsuyu-chan. Hi. How are you doing?"

Tsuyu cocked head to one side. "I'm okay, kero. People have been staring at my scar, but that's okay. What about you?"

"I'm doing alright," Izuku said. "Do you have any idea who's going to be teaching today?"

Tsuyu shrugged. "I hope that whoever it is can teach as well as Aizawa-sensei can."

"For some reason, that seems unlikely to me."

"I think that you're right, kero."

"Deku-kun! Asui-chan!"

Izuku and Tsuyu looked up to see Ochako trotting towards them, expression as sunny as it usually was.

"Call me Tsuyu," Tsuyu said immediately.

"Got it, Tsuyu-chan!" Ochako grinned. She glanced briefly at Tsuyu's scar before meeting her gaze head on. She didn't look again. "Please call me Ochako then!"

"Okay, Ochako-chan," Tsuyu said. "Your Quirk is very impressive. I've never seen one like it before."

"Aw, thank you!" Ochako said. "Your Quirk is really cool, too! It's really powerful and super unique!"

"That's nice to say, kero," Tsuyu said. "Thank you."

"No problem!"

That was about the time when Tenya came into the room. "Alright everyone! Homeroom is about to start! Please get in your seats!"

"Welp, that's our cue!" Ochako chirped. She gave a quick wave. "I'll talk to you guys after class!"

"Bye, kero," Tsuyu said.

Only a few seconds after everyone had gotten in their seats, the door opened. Every student turned to see their new substitute teacher.

 _You have got to be fucking_ kidding _me._

There, standing in the door, was _Aizawa_ , covered head-to-toe in bandages. Izuku couldn't even see his _eyes._ What was Aizawa even thinking?

"Morning," Aizawa said, his gruff, monotone voice muffled only slightly by the bandages over his _entire fucking face._

Tenya's hand shot up into the air. "I am glad to see that you are doing well, Aizawa-sensei!"

Aizawa wobbled and limped as he walked into the classroom. Izuku winced.

 _Aizawa is in pain. He is_ not _doing better. But he's still here. He wants to teach us._

 _He cares about us._

Izuku _really_ liked Aizawa.

"My welfare isn't important," Aizawa said. "Your own fight is far from over."

Izuku felt himself tense up. _What does that mean? Have more villains showed up? What's going to happen?_

With a dramatic pause, Aizawa announced, "U.A.'s Sports Festival is fast approaching!"

That was when Izuku realized that in addition to being an amazing person, Aizawa was also a dramatic little shit.


	10. Origins: Part X

"The _Sports Festival_?" Kirishima burst out, standing up from his seat. "That's totally _ordinary_!"

"Should we really be participating in the Sports Festival so soon after the villain attack?" Jirou asked. "Isn't there a chance that they might attack?"

 _They can try,_ Izuku thought. _I will_ not _hesitate to kill them in they so much as come within three meters of the school. I will tear out their throats with my own_ teeth _if need be._

"Apparently it's necessary," Aizawa said. "The thinking is something along the lines of showing the world that U.A. has handled and moved on from its crisis at U.S.J. Or, that's what I've been told. However, you should know that there will be five times the police presence when compared to previous years. We are taking your safety _very_ seriously."

Izuku kept his eyes locked on Aizawa. Though it was hard to get a read on a person who had his whole _everything_ covered, Izuku could pick up the subtle tones of concern and determination that colored Aizawa's voice.

Aizawa cared, even he if tried to act like he didn't.

"In any event," Aizawa continued, "our Sports Festival is one of the greatest opportunities you'll get. It's not an event that can be cancelled over a few villains."

The way Aizawa said it made Izuku think that he did _not_ agree with that sentiment.

Aizawa then went on to briefly explain the U.A. Sport Festival to the class. Izuku listened with only half of an ear—U.A.'s Sport Festival was well known throughout the country. It was a chance to go toe-to-toe with other students and put yourself on display for all of Japan to see. Hero agencies would be there, judging students and keeping an eye out for the best possible candidates to take on.

It was of utmost importance that Izuku did well.

 _And hey, if I play my cards right then I might just have an excuse to beat the shit out of Bakugou on national television. That would be_ wonderful.

* * *

Lunch eventually came around, everyone in the class practically buzzing with energy. Izuku watched as all of his classmates shouted and yelled and cheered.

"Everyone's so excited," Izuku commented.

"Aren't you?"

Izuku turned to see Tenya with his hands clenched in firsts in front of him, moving in a way that Izuku could _only_ describe as a knockoff, in-place version of the chacha step. Izuku didn't get it at _all_ but it was fucking _adorable_ so he just smiled.

"This is our chance to add our names to the ranks of heroes!" Tenya said. "Of course we're in high spirits!"

"Yeah, I get that," Izuku said. _I'll indulge him with this. It can't hurt to be be pumped up for an important event._

"Tenya-kun. Deku-kun."

Izuku and Tenya turned to face the voice. It was so familiar but entirely _off_ that it nearly threw Izuku for a loop. There was Ochako, with the fiercest expression Izuku had ever seen her make displayed on her face. Granted, it wasn't objectively terrifying, but the fact that it was _Ochako_ almost left Izuku feeling a little disturbed.

"During the Sports Festival, let's do our best!" Ochako all but _growled._ It was _not_ a noise that Izuku would have _ever_ associated with her before.

"Ochako-chan," Izuku said, "what happened to your _face_?"

Tenya elbowed him gently but disapprovingly at that.

"Everyone!" Ochako yelled, stance wide and pumping a fist into the air. "I'm gonna crush this!"

Everyone else cheered, some a bit confused and others uncaring about the shift in Ochako's general personality. Still, Izuku couldn't help but join his classmates in their general excitement, raising a fist into the air as they chattered about how they would prove themselves to be the best heroes _ever_ for one reason or another.

 _Speaking of,_ Izuku thought, _I don't think I ever asked Ochako what made her want to become a hero._

* * *

Izuku blinked. "So you want to be a hero for the money? I don't think that I would have guessed that."

Ochako shoved her face into her hands. "I'm sorry. I know that it just seems so _petty_ and super embarrassing when you compare it to Tenya-kun's motivations and all."

"But why?" Tenya asked hurriedly, arms swinging like mad as he rushed to comfort Ochako. "There's nothing wrong with seeking a more comfortable lifestyle! It is important to think of such practical reasons!"

"Yeah, we're not judging you, Ochako-chan," Izuku said. "We just weren't expecting that answer, is all. There's nothing wrong with that motivation."

 _Her reasoning for wanting to be a hero is still better than whatever twisted version Bakugou uses to keep himself going, that stupid, overgrown porcupine._

"My family runs a construction company," Ochako explained, her hands fidgeting in her hair. "Which, in a city with super destructive fights, you'd think that business would be great. But… it's a really small company and dad can't find anyone who wants to work with him over the bigger companies that have more benefits and stuff. We're poorer than poor. Um. Please don't mention that to anyone, okay?"

Izuku and Tenya both nodded their agreement.

"If you got permission to use your Quirk, could it help cut costs? To increase benefits and wages and whatnot?" Izuku suggested.

"Right!" Ochako exclaimed. "That's what I said to my dad back then! But… he told me to focus on going after my own dreams. So I'm going to be a hero. I'll make that money so that my mom and dad can have the lives that they deserve."

Izuku found himself somewhat stunned as Ochako delivered her speech. The passion that was behind her words was almost tangible, saturating the air around them.

 _This is it,_ Izuku thought. _This is why Ochako will make a great hero. She cares for people. Right now, it's primarily her family but how hard would it be to extend the people she cares about to friends? To innocents? To_ everyone _? It's too easy to think about that happening. God, I need to start getting a heroic mindset soon. I can't just become a hero on spite alone, as wonderful a motivator as it has been._

Tenya broke the stunned silence as he began applauding Ochako. "Bravo, Ochako-san! Bravo!"

Izuku quickly smothered his delighted laughter behind his hand. Tenya and Ochako were just so… _earnest._

 _They're going to be great heroes someday._

Suddenly, All Might was skidding from around the corner, his booming voice causing the three of them to startle. "Ah, young Midoriya! I found you!"

Izuku, Tenya, and Ochako all watched as All Might brought up a bag with a… _bunny pattern_ on it and held it in front of his chest.

"Would you like to eat lunch with me?" All Might asked.

Izuku was pretty sure that he heard Ochako mutter something along the lines of "Like a schoolgirl!"

"Sure," Izuku said. He turned back to Ochako and Tenya. "I'll see you guys later. Have fun at lunch!"

"See you Deku-kun!"

"Farewell, Izuku-kun!"

The two of them began heading to the cafeteria, chatting idly with each other as they went. Izuku turned his attention to All Might. "So, what do you want to talk about?

* * *

"You only have an hour left on your timer?" Izuku hissed out.

All Might sighed as he poured a cup of tea. He looked _exhausted_ in his true form, more so than usual. "Yes. My time limit is getting shorter and shorter by the day. I can barely maintain my muscular form for an hour and a half, and that's if I'm pushing it."

Izuku stared blankly at All Might as the man attempted to offer him tea. _Why did his time limit jump down so suddenly? It's nearly_ halved _from when I met him. Something must have happened. Something forced his limit to go down even faster—_

 _Wait._

 _All Might showing up at U.S.J. and going over his limit to fight that monster—_

 _Oh god._

"You overexerted yourself," Izuku said, connecting the dots. "You went over your time limit at U.S.J. and now you're suffering for it."

All Might's eyes went wide as he blinked. "You truly are perceptive, aren't you? Certainly more than I was at your age. That will be to your advantage, I'm sure. Anyway, what I really wanted to talk to you about was the Sports Festival."

 _He's avoiding the subject,_ Izuku thought. _I'll let him do that. For now. If things start to get serious then I'm going to need to start pressing. Or maybe get someone else to do it for me, like Recovery Girl._

"Now, you've found a way to regulate One For All, but you are far from mastering its powers!" All Might said. "So, what do we do about that?"

"I need to find a new way of using it," Izuku answered. "Burst has worked well for me so far, but there's too many ways for me to mess it up, whether it be timing my attacks or cutting off the power before it overwhelms me. And using it still damages my body, even if it's to a lesser extent than using it at full power. I need to find some way to regulate the power that isn't dependant on timing."

All Might _grinned_ at him and Izuku felt his chest fill with warmth and fuzz. "That's a brilliant analysis, young Midoriya! I'm truly impressed by the progress you've made."

"Thanks, All Might," Izuku smiled, soft and affectionate.

"It's a good thing, too," All Might said, his expression growing more serious as he spoke. "Because in all honesty, the time that I've got left as the Symbol of Peace is quickly running out and there are some with villainous intentions that have begun to realize this, if the events of U.S.J. are anything to go by."

Izuku's good mood evaporated, instantly replaced by a much more somber one. "Right."

"Young Midoriya!" All Might boomed. "I granted you my power so that way you could succeed me!"

Izuku simply stared as All Might stood up from his seat on the couch, his stance determined and voice filled with passion. _Even when he's not in his larger form, he's still the same All Might. He's still a hero._ Sometimes it was hard for Izuku to remember that, but now was certainly not one of those moments.

"The Sports Festival is an event that the entire world will be watching!" All Might continued. "That means one thing for us! You, the next All Might, the fledgeling Symbol of Peace… I need you to tell the world, 'I am here!'"

"Tell the world that 'I am here'?" Izuku parroted. "I think I can do that."

All Might's stance grew more relaxed as he fixed Izuku with a quizzical expression. "Oh? And what's your plan for that?"

Izuku smiled at All Might, carefully crafting it to be determined and stubborn without even a _trace_ of darkness or sadism. "That's easy. I win."

All Might simply stared at him for a few second before he let out a great, rumbling laugh. "My, you certainly are gung-ho about this! With that kind of attitude, I'm sure you'll succeed! Just be careful not to grow overconfident; you can't afford to make mistakes."

Izuku nodded in acknowledgement. _It's not that I'm overconfident, really. I simply can't let Bakugou win. He's not allowed to, not after what he's done to Ochako. The best way to ensure his defeat is to grind him into dust myself. And this, more than anything, will give me permission to_ ruin _him. I can probably afford to break a bone or two of his if I frame it like an accident._

All of Izuku's willpower was diverted into keeping what he _knew_ would be a twisted, murderous grin off of his face. All Might would _not_ like that.

"You'll have two weeks to work on progressing even further with your control over One For All," All Might said. "Be sure to make the most of that time. Now, eat your lunch. We can't have you going hungry!"

Izuku felt something affectionate stir inside of him and paint itself on his face. _God, All Might is just so_ great.

* * *

Almost as soon as classes for the day had ended, there was a dull rumbling of chatter from outside the classroom of Class 1-A. Izuku had only just stood up to head out when the door started sliding open because _someone from outside of the room was pulling it open._

 _What the fuck?_

Through the doorway, Izuku saw a sea of students milling in front of the classroom, the crowd far too thick for him to make his way through unobtrusively. _Great._

Ochako, who was standing in front of him, exclaimed, "What's going on?"

Bakugou seemed to open his mouth to say something before glancing at Izuku. His jaw clicked shut and he simply kicked absentmindedly at the floor.

 _Good. You_ better _watch what you say._ Especially _to Ochako._

"They're probably here to get a feel for us," Izuku said, stepping up beside Ochako. He was pleased to see that Tenya was on her other side, almost like the two of them were flanking her, protecting her from both sides. "Our class survived a villain attack. It makes sense that they'd want to check us out after the Sports Festival is announced."

"Oh," Ochako breathed out. "Yeah, that makes sense. Tenya-kun, why don't you talk to them? You're the class president, after all!"

"Of course!" Tenya said. He cleared his throat and took a step forward, addressing the crowd as he spoke. "Hello, fellow student! I am Iida Tenya, one of the class presidents for Class 1-A! I have not had the pleasure of meeting anyone outside of my class yet, but I look forward to getting to know everyone in the future and working together towards becoming the best people we can possibly be!"

Izuku scanned the crowd as Tenya spoke. Most of the students smiled and called back affirmations that they were excited to meet more people from Class 1-A as well. There were a few others who had seemed almost hostile, but all of them were now sporting somewhat perplexed expressions. No one seemed like an immediate threat and most everyone had taken Tenya's speech well. _God, it would have been an absolute trainwreck if we had let_ Bakugou _go out there first._

"We came to get a look at you, that much is true. I'm surprised that you actually _exceeded_ my expectations, low as they were."

Izuku's gaze snapped to focus sharply on the speaker. He was taller than most of the other students with dark, heavy bags under his eyes and purple hair that looked as though it was being blown up by the wind. His expression was indifferent but his voice had been tinged with sarcasm.

Izuku would keep a close watch on him.

"I gotta say," the mystery student continued, "if this is what the Hero Course is offering, then I think that I can buy into it."

Tenya's expression shifted to one of earnest determination and optimism. "Ah, are you not in the Hero Course? I'm sure that if you wish to be in it that you will certainly be able to transfer over! If not, then I am sure that you will continue to do well along your own path! Either way, I wish you the best of luck!"

Purple boy suddenly seemed _very_ off-balance. "Um. Okay. Uh, thanks?"

"Of course!" Tenya said. Izuku couldn't help but smile at the exchange. Tenya was just so… _Tenya._

"I'm Uraraka Ochako!" Ochako called out. "I'm not a class rep or anything, but I can't wait to compete with you all! Let's all do our best and give everything we've got!"

A quick cheer went through the crowd at Ochako's words. By this point, the tired purple kid was the only one who seemed anything but warm towards Class 1-A and Izuku had a feeling that he'd be won over soon enough.

"Enough of this fucking _bullshit_ ," Bakugou growled. He stormed past Izuku, Ochako, and Tenya, though Izuku noticed that Bakugou avoided knocking into any of them. He glared at the crowd of students. "Move aside, _cannon fodder_."

"Bakugou!" Tenya snapped. "That's incredibly rude!"

"Does it look like a give a fucking _fuck_ about that, Private School?" Bakugou snarled, not even bothering to look at Tenya as he spoke. "I just need these damned extras to get the fuck out of my way."

Tired and Purple was staring at Bakugou, something dark flickering back into his eyes. "Ah. So _you're_ the arrogant type that needs to be knocked down off of your pedestal. I'd love to see you fall."

"The fuck did you say to me?" Bakugou barked.

"Haven't you heard?" Tired and Purple smiled faintly. It was _not_ a friendly smile. "Depending on the results of the Sports Festival, they might consider transferring some of us in the General Course to the Hero Course. As I understand it, the reverse is also true. So—Bakugou, was it?—consider this a declaration of war against _you._ "

 _Is this what being in love feels like?_ Izuku thought distantly. _Is it this overwhelming urge to hug someone and just replay something amazing they did over and over in your head? Because if it is then I might be in love with this boy._

A voice from further down the hall shouted, "Hey!"

Everyone turned to see a kid with silver hair and some sort of weird, long, spiky eyelashes. Izuku also noted that he had teeth that were similar to Kirishima's.

"I'm Tetsutetsu Tetsutetsu from Class 1-B!" Tetsutetsu— _God, that cannot be his real name, it_ can't _be_ —yelled. "We all heard that you guys fought some villains and we want to find out more, but this arrogant asshole is being a total jerk! Don't you make a fool out of the rest of us!"

Izuku could _feel_ the rage coming off of Bakugou in waves. In a rare show of restraint, Bakugou held his tongue. He then immediately _ruined_ this by attempting to _forcibly_ clear a path through the crowd by shoving students to the side.

"Bakugou!" Tenya snapped again.

"You think that I give a shit?" Bakugou snarled. "I'm going straight to the top, so why should I give a fuck about the fuckers who are going to be _beneath_ me?"

Izuku didn't even bother to hide the glare that he directed at Bakugou. " _Kacchan_ , why don't you just calm down a bit?"

There was a beat of silence before a wave of laughter rippled through the students.

"Kacchan?" Tired and Purple chuckled lightly. "For all that you try to put on the airs of a delinquent… you're actually just some pushover, aren't you?"

"Shut _up_!" Bakugou screeched. His hands began to spark before they abruptly stopped.

"Bakugou-san," Aizawa's flat voice cut through the air. When everyone turned to face him, they could see his hair floating upwards and his eyes glowing red from in between the bandages. "I think you'll be needing to stay after school to once again discuss why assaulting other students is _not_ acceptable. This is your final warning. Pull this again and you _will_ be expelled."

Bakugou tensed up. With one last animal-like _snarl_ at the crowd, he skulked back into the classroom.

"The rest of you, get out of here," Aizawa said. "You're taking up all the space in the halls. Go home already."

The rest of the students made no attempt to piss off the man wrapped in bandages who already sounded _furious._ Izuku, Tenya, and Ochako were all right behind them.

"Aizawa-sensei is scary, even when he's injured!" Ochako said as they rushed through the crowd and out of the school.

"He is a Pro, after all!" Tenya said, arms pumping as he kept up a brisk pace. "Having a strong presence is key!"

Izuku simply trotted along behind them, deep in his own thoughts.

 _I have two weeks to train and figure out another new way of using One For All. I need to make a mark and show the world that I'm worthy of their attention. I need to show them that I will_ win _and that I'm the best._

 _I need to crush Bakugou, too. I need to hurt him while making sure that it looks like an accident, or at least like it's not out of malicious intent. I need to_ destroy _him as much as possible._

"Deku-kun!"

Izuku was jerked out of his thoughts. Tenya and Ochako were looking back at him, standing a few meters in front of him.

"You have to keep up!" Ochako chirped. "We don't want to leave you behind!"

"Or we could slow down in order to keep pace with Izuku-kun."

"But where's the fun in that?"

Izuku smiled brightly as he caught up and matched his stride to his friends'.

 _We'll all do our best and the world is bound to take notice._

 _We can do this._


	11. Origins: Part XI

Two weeks wasn't that long of a time to get ready for an all-out student battle royale, but it was all Izuku had so he intended to make the best of it. The first order of business was to come up with a more effective method of using One For All. His Burst technique, while useful, still taxed his body and took far too much concentration and timing. He had _tripped_ because he had fired off Burst too early. If not for Aizawa, Izuku would be dead right now, turned to dust by Shigaraki.

Aizawa wouldn't always be there to save him. Burst was too unreliable. He needed another way. Something that wouldn't fail him as easily and didn't _hurt_ when he used it.

Two weeks seemed like an impossibly short amount of time for the goal he had set himself, but Izuku would be damned if he wasn't going to at least _try._

And so Izuku found himself staring into space inside of his room after classes, shaking his leg and drumming his fingers on his desk. If One For All was a high pressure water hose and Izuku's body was a piece of cardboard, then Burst was simply flicking the hose on and off to mitigate damage. But if Izuku could somehow change the pressure instead of the binary "on and off" that he had been using it as… well, it would be _very_ effective.

The problem with this was that Izuku had no idea as to _how_ he would go about doing something like that. Even if he did, it would incredibly idiotic to do it at home where he wouldn't have access to Recovery Girl in case things went wrong. And, given Izuku's track record, something would probably go wrong.

 _I can't exactly skip class to practice,_ Izuku thought. _Aizawa told us that we would still be attending classes regularly and there is no way that any of my teachers would be alright with me getting extra training on their time. That leaves asking Recovery Girl to stay after school with me so I can practice. I would hate to inconvenience her, but I really don't want to risk going half a day with broken bones._

Izuku nodded to himself. _So tomorrow I'll go see Recovery Girl and ask for her help. Oh, I need to ask mom if she's okay with me staying out later to practice. I'll do that tomorrow morning._

Izuku glanced at the time. He jumped a little bit as he read the numbers. How was it suddenly so _late_?

As quietly and as quickly as he could, Izuku got into his pajamas and tiptoed to the bathroom to brush his teeth. As soon as he was done, he laid down on his bed and pulled the covers over himself and bid himself to sleep.

* * *

Izuku was excited as he made his way to U.A. He had gotten up early and asked his mom for her permission to stay with Recovery Girl and work on a new technique for his Quirk. She had, of course, been worried for him but had also encouraged him to do his absolute best. Izuku had promised her that he would be as careful as possible before hugging her and heading out. God, he loved his mom. She was the best.

He arrived on campus well before classes were supposed to start. The media had been held at bay rather effectively ever since their earlier break in, so everything was mostly quiet. Izuku briskly strode across the grounds and inside the school.

After a few more minutes of walking, he arrived at Recovery Girl's office. Izuku lightly knocked on the door.

"You can come in!" Recovery Girl called, voice muffled by the door.

Izuku took the handle and swung the door open. "Hi, Recovery Girl."

"Ah, Midoriya-kun!" she smiled. "What seems to be the problem?"

"Oh, there's no problem," Izuku said. "I just wanted to know if I could get your help with something. Well, more like supervision, I guess."

She cocked her head to one side and hummed questioningly, but otherwise remained quiet.

"It's about my Quirk," Izuku explained. "I still can't use it at full power yet and the only way I have of using it—I've been calling it Burst—isn't going to work long term. I want to practice different ways of using it but I don't know how… dangerous it will be. I just figured it was better to have you watching over me in case I slip and end up breaking more bones. Not that I'm planning to break my bones it or anything. I'm just not arrogant enough to rule out that possibility, is all."

Recovery Girl smiled gently at him. "You want to use your Quirk is a way that will leave you in good health by the end of it. I could never fault a student for wanting that. It's rather mature of you to have come to ask me about this instead of practicing on your own."

Izuku couldn't help but perk up at her words. Yet another Pro Hero who said such kind things about him. Izuku loved it. "So you'll supervise me? Is it okay if we meet up after school?"

"Of course, Midoriya-kun," Recovery Girl said kindly. "After your classes, you can come here and then we'll head out so you can start your training."

"Thank you so much!" Izuku all but shouted, bending down into a deep bow. "I really appreciate it!"

"Of course, dear," Recovery Girl chuckled. "Ah, would you mind if I told All Might about this? He may want to watch, after all."

Izuku blinked as he straightened himself to stand upright. "Oh, right. I figured that he would be way too busy to watch or anything. Still, he should definitely know about it." _I can't believe that I didn't think of telling him sooner. Jeez. Some successor I am._

"I'll be sure to let him know when I see him," Recovery Girl assured him. "Is there anything else I can do for you?"

 _Ask about All Might. Ask about how he's doing._

 _…_ _No. I won't do that before asking him first. I can't just go behind his back like that, even if I do it with good intentions._

"No, this is more than enough," Izuku finally decided on saying. "Really, thank you. It means a lot to me."

"Oh, hush," Recovery Girl said in an amused tone. "You must have something better to do than flatter an old woman."

Izuku a short, breathy laugh that was more of an exhale than anything else. "Not if that woman can help me repair broken bones."

"Always an ulterior motive," Recovery Girl chuckled. "Really now, you should be getting to class. Just remember to come by here at the end of the day."

"I will!" Izuku said as he began making his way out of the office. "Thanks again!"

"You're welcome, Midoriya-kun."

Izuku closed the door behind him. He practically skipped to class.

* * *

As always, Izuku made sure to pay attention in all of his classes while steadfastly ignoring Bakugou. Izuku could think about ways to torture him later. For now, he needed to make sure that he got the best marks possible in all of his classes. Doing well in school wasn't exactly necessary for success but Izuku wasn't going to even _think_ of slacking off after he had worked so hard to get here, not even in favor of imagining how wonderful it would be to hear Bakugou _screech_ in pain.

… His thoughts were getting progressively darker. That was the opposite of both what he wanted and needed in order to become a hero. God, he needed work on that. For real this time.

And so the rest of the day passed by, Izuku eating lunch with Ochako, Tenya, and Tsuyu—as had become the new norm—and attending his classes. Everything seemed to be going by way too _slowly,_ but that was likely because he was so eager to start training.

By the time he was in his last class, Izuku found himself checking the clock every two minutes and growing frustrated that _only two minutes had passed._

 _This can't be the rate that time normally moves at,_ Izuku thought. _This day feels like an eternity._

The second they were dismissed, Izuku was shooting out of his seat and heading out.

"Izuku-kun!"

Izuku stopped and turned to face Tenya who was being flanked by Ochako and Tsuyu. _Right. I have friends now. I can't just run off._ "Hey guys. Sorry I didn't mention it but I can't walk home with you guys today."

"Is something wrong, kero?" Tsuyu asked.

"No, it's fine," Izuku said. "I'm just meeting Recovery Girl after school."

Ochako's eyes narrowed and she crossed her arms. "That doesn't sound like everything okay, Deku-kun."

"It is, I promise," Izuku said. "I want to train with my Quirk so that I can figure out a new way of using it, but I don't want to… you know."

"Ah, I see," Tenya said, nodding his head. "That's very wise of you, Izuku-kun."

"We'll miss you on our walks back to the station!" Ochako chirped. "But training is super important so we totally get it."

"You'll do great if you're setting your mind to it, kero," Tsuyu told him.

Izuku found himself incredibly _touched_ by how much he meant to his friends. They really did care about him and wanted him to do his best. Even after being around them for a while, it was still hard for him to wrap his head around it.

"Thank you," Izuku said. "It means a lot to me that you're all cheering me on. I know that you guys will do great in the Sports Festival and that we'll all try our hardest with our training!"

Ochako grinned and pumped her fist into the air with a cheer while Tsuyu gave a determined nod. Tenya smiled, a fire burning in his eyes.

"I wish the best of luck to all of us for the next two weeks," Tenya said. "I hope that your training goes well, Izuku-kun."

Izuku smiled back. "Thank you, Tenya-kun. Oh, I really have to go now. I'll see you all tomorrow!"

With a last few farewells from his friends, Izuku began his trek to Recovery Girl's office, more resolute than ever in finding a better way to use his Quirk.

* * *

"Do you mind if I talk out my ideas?" Izuku asked as they walked together towards the training facilities. "It just kind of helps me to have a sounding board."

"Not at all," Recovery Girl said. "I'm very interested to hear what you've come up with."

"Alright," Izuku breathed out. "So I've only used my Quirk fully a few times, but each time the same thing happened. Once I fired it off, my bones shattered. But here's the thing: they only broke when I _released_ the power. Just activating it might not break my bones. I want to try that, just calling on that power and holding it. Does that make sense?"

Recovery Girl nodded. "It certainly sounds logical for an exercise in control. I hope that it all works out well."

"I do, too," Izuku said. "The other idea I have is using _less_ of my Quirk's power. I've been viewing it as more of an on-and-off switch, but I need to start using it like a slider. I'm just not sure _how_ to do that yet."

"You'll figure it out, Midoriya-kun," Recovery Girl assured him. "It might take some time but I am sure that you will master your Quirk."

Izuku flashed Recovery Girl a quick, grateful smile which she returned with a kind, motherly gaze.

When they finally reached the training facility—it looked more like a glorified gym with a large, matted space in the middle—Izuku turned to Recovery Girl. "Oh right, is All Might coming?"

"He said—"

"Young Midoriya!"

Izuku turned to face All Might as the emaciated man walked over at a brisk pace. Izuku couldn't help grinning. "You came to see me train?"

"Of course!" All Might said. "How could I simply stand idly by as my successor worked towards mastering his Quirk? Some teacher that would make me!"

Izuku felt his insides grow warm and fuzzy. _He really cares. I know that he does already, but when he does stuff like that… I don't I'll ever get used to it. I never want to get used to this._

"Midoriya-kun, why don't you try what you were talking about earlier?" Recovery Girl gently suggested. Izuku realized that she was likely doing it because he was probably staring at All Might with stars in his eyes.

 _Now's not the time for hero worship,_ Izuku thought as he gave Recovery Girl a quick nod and headed towards the center of the gym-like area, leaving All Might and Recovery Girl to watch from the edge. _I need to master my Quirk. I need to show All Might that I'm worthy._

 _I want him to be proud of me._

Once he was far enough away, Izuku stopped walking. He took in a deep breath.

 _Remember, don't release the power. Just call it forth in one arm. Keep it there. Don't release it._

With one last calming breath, Izuku activated One For All in his right arm.

His skin instantly started thrumming with the familiar energy that he had come to be familiar with. His nerves were alight and _buzzing,_ One For All practically begging to be released.

 _Hold it,_ Izuku told himself, gritting his teeth. _Keep it there._ Don't _let go of it._

Izuku _hated_ the feeling in his arm. It felt like the power in it was ready to explode and overflow at any moment. The pressure and buildup were bordering on _unbearable._ It was all just _too much,_ this power surging in his bones and tissue.

 _Keep it there. Keep it_ there.

After what felt like an eternity, the feeling became easier to deal with. Izuku wasn't sure if it was because he had done _something_ to mitigate it or if he had simply gotten used to it. He could still feel the energy singing just below the skin, but it was manageable. Almost ticklish. It almost felt like moving his arm after it had fallen asleep.

A bit more time passed and the sensation changed again. It was far less prickly now. In fact, it felt almost like an all-encompassing pressure had surrounded his arm. It wasn't uncomfortable. No, it almost felt… comforting. It reminded Izuku of how his hero costume had felt when he was wearing it. Like he was safe. Protected.

 _I can work with this,_ Izuku thought gleefully. _I can_ definitely _do something with this. I just need to figure out_ what.

Izuku allowed himself to look at his right arm. Jagged, glowing red patterns were covering his arm, brighter than when he used Burst. However, the familiar, crackling green energy was absent. _It must be because I'm not actually using its power, just holding it._

Izuku tried moving his arm a bit and then immediately regretted that decision. It felt like needles were being stabbed into every nerve-ending in his arm and it did _not_ feel pleasant. It didn't hurt so much as it was just _overwhelming_ but Izuku needed to concentrate so he elected to stay relatively still.

 _This is something. I don't know what it is yet, but it's_ something.

 _Holy fuck, I'm using One For All without hurting myself._

Izuku stared at the jagged red light lacing his arm. The feeling of protection still hadn't left him yet, covering him like a heavy blanket. Izuku's mind quickly went from being being stalled into overdrive.

 _One For All obviously has defensive capabilities of some kind since All Might hardly ever gets a scratch on him in most fights, even when he's taking hits. That means something about his Quirk gives him enhanced durability. For him it's something instinctual, passive even. That didn't happen for me so I just assumed that it never would. But what if it_ is _an ability I have? One that I just need to activate?_

"All Might!" Izuku called out, excitement coloring his voice. "I think that I'm onto something!"

"That's brilliant, young Midoriya!" All Might yelled back. "... What exactly have you discovered?"

Izuku took a deep breath before _slowly_ letting the power of One For All fade from his arm. It took a good deal of concentration, but it was much easier to do than simply hold it there. Then again, maybe it was simply because Izuku had a better idea of how to conduct his power.

"I think," Izuku started, "that I've found a way to help me stop breaking all of my bones."

* * *

Over the next few days, Izuku worked on perfecting his new technique with Recovery Girl and All Might. Izuku could now disperse the stored-up power of One For All throughout his entire body. While it required a large amount of concentration and moving while keeping the ability activated didn't feel great, Izuku could now walk around with the power humming under his skin.

While Izuku was fairly certain he knew the overall effects of this new technique, he needed to test it.

And that's how he was in his current predicament.

"It should be _fine_ ," Izuku insisted.

"'Should' is the operative word here!" All Might boomed. "Just because your newfound ability _should_ protect you from harm doesn't mean that we should test it by _punching_ you!"

"Don't punch me at full power!" Izuku said. "Just enough to bruise! Besides, Recovery Girl is right there!"

Recovery Girl shook her head. "Midoriya-kun, I am _very_ against this. If you want to test this, I won't be healing you from your own foolishness."

 _Traitor._

"See?" All Might held a hand out towards Recovery Girl. "She agrees with me!"

"Come _on,_ All Might," Izuku whined. "I don't trust anyone else enough to test this out with. _Please_?"

All Might grit his teeth, skeletal jawline tensing. After a minute of rather intense eye contact, All Might sighed. " _Fine_."

Izuku felt a grin stretch across his face. _Finally._

"All Might!" Recovery Girl exclaimed.

"I know what I'm doing," All Might said in a tired voice. "I won't do anything to seriously harm young Midoriya and I have seen his stubbornness enough times to know that he will continue to pester me until he gets his way."

"And if you ended up not agreeing I would have asked someone else," Izuku helpfully pointed out. Recovery Girl looked vaguely horrified.

All Might sighed heavily. "Right. Of course you would have. You're really something, young Midoriya. I don't think anyone will be able to keep up with you."

Izuku shot All Might a bright smile. "That's the idea."

All Might shook his head. "You're going to take this world by storm one day. I'm excited to see how you'll go about it."

"Well, I haven't quite worked out all of the details yet," Izuku teased. "But part of it starts with figuring out how to make myself more durable. So?"

"I already agreed," All Might reminded him. "Now, get ready. Tell me when you're prepared for me to strike."

Izuku nodded before dropping into a fighting stance, distributing his weight evenly and doing his best to stay as balanced as possible. He brought his arms in front of him to block the punch that All Might would throw. He took in a deep breath and activated One For All, letting the power run through his body and settling, crimson lightning patterns adorning his skin.

Softly, Izuku breathed out, "Ready."

All Might inflated and, with a yell of " _One Percent Punch_!" threw his fist at Izuku. Izuku squeezed his eyes shut tightly.

He felt wind whip past him and a small amount of some kind of pressure on his forearms, but that was all.

After a few more seconds, Izuku opened his eyes.

All Might was standing there, back in his true form, his face stretched in a skeletal grin.

"Why didn't you punch me?" Izuku asked.

"I did," All Might said, still smiling widely.

"Then I think that one percent was too small," Izuku told him. "I couldn't feel anything."

"Young Midoriya," All Might said, voice laced with excitement as he continued, "a One Percent Punch from me is enough to do some serious damage! I have broken bones with that move before!"

"You've broken bones with that much power and you used it on a _child_?" Recovery Girl hissed.

All Might turned around to face her, hands gesturing wildly. "Very rarely! Only when the angle was right. Usually it just bruises or even sprains!"

Recovery Girl continued glaring at All Might.

"So you're saying that you punched me with enough force to break my arm and it did _nothing_ but feel like someone barely tapped me?" Izuku asked.

All Might pivoted back and gave Izuku a thumbs up. "That's it exactly, young Midoriya! You were entirely correct in your theory! It appears that you can make yourself far more durable when you use your Quirk in this way. To think that you would need to _activate_ it to achieve that ability… I never would have thought of that!"

Izuku _finally_ let One For All's power disperse from his body. Once it had, he grinned widely. "This is _awesome._ I can't believe that it took me so long to even come up with this idea."

"Took you—my boy!" All Might exclaimed. "You haven't even had your Quirk for a full _month_ yet!"

"Well, I guess," Izuku conceded. "So now I have this and Burst in my arsenal."

"About that," All Might said. "What do you want to call this technique? It certainly deserves a name."

Izuku let himself zone out as he attempted to come up with an adequate name. After about a minute of thinking it over, he let his gaze meet All Might's again.

"I think that I'm going to call it Full Brace," Izuku said. "I'm using my Quirk's full power to brace myself so it seems fitting, at least."

"An excellent name for an excellent technique!" All Might roared. "You can't go wrong with something like that!"

Izuku smiled at All Might. "Speaking of techniques…"

"Oh dear," Recovery Girl mumbled.

"It's not bad!" Izuku hurried to reassure her. "It's just an idea that I just got from All Might's One Percent Punch. I can't really use my Quirk at its full power but what if I disperse it through my body like I do with Full Brace and… I only turn it on a little bit?"

All Might and Recovery Girl glanced at each other.

"That… sounds like it will work," All Might said after a few seconds.

Recovery Girl sighed. "Please do your best to remain unharmed, Midoriya-kun."

"Yes ma'am," Izuku said.

 _Okay,_ Izuku thought as he took in a deep breath and activated Full Brace, the now-familiar power spreading throughout his body. _Just try to tone it down a little and then let it out. I just need to do the opposite of what I usually do with Burst. Moderate the amount of power, not the time._

With one more deep breath, Izuku let some of Full Brace's power fade until he could hardly notice it. Then, he let it _out._

Green, lightning-like energy _crackled_ around Izuku, the red patterns vanishing from his body. It felt… _good._ Where Full Brace felt safe and study, this felt fast and _strong,_ like Izuku could run a marathon with strength to spare.

Izuku looked up in time to see All Might flinch back as the energy sparked around him. "Young Midoriya, are you—?"

"I feel fine," Izuku said. "Great, actually. Wow, this is so _cool._ "

All Might's shoulders lost some of their tension. "So—?"

"I'm barely using five percent of my power right now," Izuku said. "But it's still _five percent._ I can maintain it. I can _use_ this without getting hurt. Everything inside me feels like it's running _faster_ and stronger than ever."

"Two techniques in less than one week," All Might shook his head, something like _awe_ tingeing his voice. "Just what are we going to do with you?"

"I think I'm going to call this Full Cowl," Izuku declared. "I'm pulling it over myself and I get to actually use its power. Yeah, I like it."

"But you're not using it at full power," All Might pointed out.

"It needs to match up with Full Brace," Izuku said. "So, Full Cowl. Maybe I'll change it later, I don't know. I feel like my brain is on overdrive right now. My reflexes are probably a lot better now, too. Oh man, this is going to come in handy a lot, I can already tell."

All Might laughed heartily. "Of that I have no doubt. I look forward to seeing how you use it."

"I think I'm going to train with it right now," Izuku said. He turned towards the punching bags. "I'm going to see if I can knock that off of the chain by hitting it."

"Young Midoriya—"

Izuku raced over to the punching bag, using Full Cowl to propel himself into quick hops like he usually did with Burst.

 _This isn't as powerful in terms of raw power as Burst is,_ Izuku thought to himself as he started pummeling the punching bag with kicks and punches. _But Full Cowl is easier to control and I don't have to worry about being off on timing. And this doesn't hurt when I use it, so that's a bonus._

Izuku was landing hits faster than he normally did, both regularly and with Burst. Full Cowl made him _quick,_ and that was invaluable in a fight.

 _Bakugou better watch out,_ Izuku thought. He activated Burst at the last second and slammed his fist into the bag. It slammed into the wall with a resounding _smack._

 _I'm going to_ love _kicking his ass._


	12. Origins: Part XII

The rest of Izuku's time before the Sports Festival was consumed with training his body and honing his new techniques. Izuku found that it was easier to move with Full Brace activated so long as he dialed back the amount of power he pumped into it. It was a simple trade between agility and defense. Meanwhile, Full Cowl was fairly comfortable at around five percent but Izuku could dial it up to ten percent if he _really_ concentrated.

Izuku hadn't quite figured out how to keep Full Cowl and Full Brace activated at the same time just yet, but he would keep working on it after the Sports Festival.

For now, Izuku would have to make do with his current techniques and power level. It would enough.

It _had_ to be enough.

* * *

"Deku-kun!"

"Izuku-kun!"

Izuku looked up to see Tenya and Ochako trotting over to him as he entered the Class 1-A Prep Room. He grinned at them. "Ochako-chan. Tenya-kun. Hi. How are you guys doing?"

"Oh my god, I'm _super_ nervous," Ochako sighed. "Still! I'm really pumped!"

Tenya smiled, his face determined. "I know that we'll all do our best! I hope to see you both alongside me in the finals!"

"Just don't get too mad when I win!" Ochako chirped.

"I don't know," Izuku drawled. "I think you'll be pretty hard pressed to beat me. I already know that I can beat Tenya-kun."

"I will admit that you bested me during our Battle Training exercise," Tenya conceded. "However! I will not be defeated a second time!"

"Whatever you say, Tenya-kun." Izuku quipped.

"Hey, save the fight for the event!" Ochako teased.

Tenya crossed his arm and stuck his chin out, exaggerating the movement to a comical degree. "I _suppose_."

"Seriously though," Izuku said, smothering his laughter, "I just wanted to wish you both the best of luck. I know that we'll all do great."

Ochako and Tenya smiled warmly at him for a few moments before Ochako pulled Izuku and Tenya into a big hug.

"You guys are the _best_ ," Ochako breathed out. She let go of them and flashed them a quick smile before bouncing back. "Anyway, I need to talk to Tsuyu-chan about something before everything starts up. I'll see you guys on the field!"

Tenya glanced at the clock as he gave her a quick wave. "The event is going to start soon. I need to make sure everyone is ready!"

"Get to it, class prez," Izuku said.

Tenya gave him a mock salute. "Of course! Take this time to prepare for the first event!"

Tenya headed towards the front of the room and soon started addressing everyone in it, arms waving as he spoke.

Izuku watched him fondly for a moment before walking to the back corner near the lockers. He stood there for a few seconds before closing his eyes and concentrating on his breathing. _You've been practicing Full Brace and Full Cowl for the past week. Remember what they feel like when you're using them. Remember to keep your concentration. Throw in Burst when you want a little more power. Keep Full Cowl at five percent. Make sure to moderate Full Brace so that way you can still move. Remember to—_

"Midoriya," a soft, indifferent voice said, interrupting Izuku's meditation.

Izuku opened his eyes and turned to meet Todoroki's cold stare. Izuku forced his face to stay neutral, even as he felt the weight of his classmate's eyes on him. _Well, this is new. I don't think I've seen Todoroki initiate a single conversation before this._ "Todoroki-kun. Did you want something?"

"Objectively speaking, I'm stronger than you," Todoroki said, his voice monotone. "More capable."

 _Okay, so I guess his main personality trait is being fucking rude,_ Izuku thought. "I can't say that I agree with you, but I have a feeling that you don't care."

Todoroki's face didn't so much as twitch. "All Might's got his eye on you," Todoroki continued. "Now, I'm not about to pry into why that is, but… I _will_ beat you."

Izuku just _stared,_ tuning out the chatter that kicked up Todoroki's declaration _. Is he… is he fucking serious? This is the first time we've talked to each other and he just… comes up to me to tell me he's going to try and defeat me? That's not how normal people work. Has he never had an actual conversation with another human being?_

Kirishima was walking towards them now. "Hey man, why would you pick a fight now? We're about to—"

"I really don't care," Todoroki interrupted, not breaking eye contact with Izuku. "I'm not here to make friends."

 _Yeah, that much is obvious,_ Izuku thought. "Listen, Todoroki-kun, I don't know about you being 'objectively stronger' than I am, but I don't really care if you are. And trust me, no one else will care either. Regardless of how powerful you are, everyone will still be aiming for the top. Everyone is going to be giving it their all and that includes _me._ "

Todoroki stared silently at him for a few moments. "... Right."

With that, Todoroki stalked off to another part of the room.

… _I think that was one of the weirdest interactions I've had at U.A. so far._

"Is everyone ready?" Tenya shouted. "We're going to be heading out into the arena now! I trust that you are all prepared!"

There was a quick murmur that rippled through the room before everyone started filing out of the room. Izuku fell into step beside Tenya and Ochako, his friends on either side of him. They all shot each other quick smiles before heading down the hall and towards the stadium field.

 _You can do this,_ Izuku thought to himself, taking in a deep breath. _You're going to kick ass._

And then, an impossibly loud voice that could only belong to Present Mic boomed throughout the arena. "Here they come! The class that brushed off a villain attack with their ironclad willpower! It's the first years of the Hero Course, Class 1-A!"

Izuku stepped out of the archway and onto the field just as Present Mic finished speaking, gazing around the stadium and into the stands.

"Holy _shit_ ," Izuku breathed out. "There are so many _people_."

"And we're expected to put on the best performance we can in front of so many spectators," Tenya mumbled from next to him. "I suppose that is merely one more necessary skill if we hope to become heroes."

 _He's not wrong,_ Izuku thought. _That doesn't mean that I have to like it, though._

That was when a loud, sharp _crack_ snapped through the air. Every head snapped to find the source of the sound.

Izuku blinked as his eyes landed on Midnight, standing on a raised platform amongst the sea of first years. _Wow. They really brought in the "R-Rated" Hero for a bunch of small teengagers, didn't they? Alright then._

"Now!" Midnight yelled, a hand on her hip and the other clutching a whip-like weapon, "It's time for the Athlete's Oath!"

People all around Izuku were chattering and making comments, most of them regarding Midnight herself rather than her words. Tenya was standing next to Izuku with his back ramrod straight. Ochako just looked somewhat anxious. Izuku felt an odd surge of pride. _See? They're not being annoying or loud. They're_ listening.

Midnight cracked her whip-like weapon again her voice raising to a shriek. "Pipe down!"

The students fell silent for a moment before more hushed whispers broke out between them.

Midnight smiled and continued to speak in a much calmer voice. "As I was saying! Your student representative is… from Class 1-A! Midoriya Izuku!"

Izuku blinked.

 _Excuse me, what the_ fuck?

"You didn't tell us you were the student representative!" Ochako exclaimed.

"I didn't even know until right now," Izuku confessed in a rushed whisper. Why hadn't anyone _told_ him? Shit, he'd never given a speech before. And now he was supposed to just… go up in front of all the students in his year completely unprepared?

 _This is absolute horse shit. I'm going to punch someone for this. I don't know_ who _yet, but someone is getting decked._

Izuku felt a firm hand clap down on his shoulder. He turned and found himself looking up at Tenya, a determined smile fixed on his friend's face.

"You can do it, Izuku-kun," Tenya said, his words brimming with confidence that Izuku could only ever hope to achieve. "I'm sure that you'll do great."

"We'll be cheering you on, Deku-kun!" Ochako grinned, pumping a fist into the air.

Izuku felt some of the tension ease from his shoulders, the beginnings of a smile tugging at his lips. "Thanks. I… I needed that. Here's to hoping that I don't screw this up too terribly."

"You won't!" Tenya and Ochako insisted at once, their voices overlapping.

Izuku huffed a small laugh at them. "You guys are the best."

With one last deep breath in and out, Izuku walked forwards towards Midnight.

 _Why was I chosen as the student representative?_ Izuku thought as he made his way through the crowd. _I don't think that I have the best grades or scores in our year. I can't. So what else could it—_

 _Oh. The entrance exam. I placed first in it. That must be why. Or maybe there's another reason that I just can't think of and oh wow I'm already up here next to Midnight and that was_ not _enough time and I really should have been thinking of something to say—_

Izuku was in front of the microphone now. All eyes were on him.

 _Okay. You can do this. And whatever you say, just act like Bakugou and Todoroki and those other assholes aren't a part of the school. Don't let them tarnish what you say about everyone else._

"The Athlete's Oath…" Izuku started, his eyes scanning through the crowd. He quickly found Tenya and Ochako amongst their classmates, both of their faces bright and kind.

"... I promise to do my best," Izuku said. "And I'm sure that everyone else is promising to do _their_ best. I think that doing all that we can is really the most important part of today. We're all here because we're powerful and strong in our own ways; that alone is something to be proud of. So no matter where any of us place—first or last or anywhere in between—it's okay because we're out here doing everything we can, going Plus Ultra. I want to wish everyone the best of luck for today and for the rest of their time at U.A. And may the best student win!"

There was silence immediately following Izuku's final words and Izuku felt something inside of him _crumble._

 _Shit, that was too cheesy and dumb, wasn't it? Fuck, what else was I supposed to do? I should have just—_

"Yeah Deku-kun!"

Izuku felt himself refocus onto Ochako, her hands cupped around her mouth as she cheered for him. Tenya was only a split second behind her as he began to applaud loudly. It wasn't long before the rest of Class 1-A joined in. The applause and cheering spread to the rest of the first year students and then into the crowd as a whole, the whole stadium full of noise.

"What a rousing and encouraging speech!" Present Mic's voice boomed above the din. "A great way to start off the Sports Festival!"

Izuku was already descending down from the stage and hurrying back towards his friends. Students that he had never even _met_ before were offering him scattered praise and high-fives.

 _I… I don't think I've ever been this well-liked in my entire life. These people don't even_ know _me but they already like me._

Something dark and cold tickled at the back of Izuku's mind. _If I didn't have a Quirk, then none of them would even give me the time of day. The only reason that they're giving me the time of day is because of All Might._

… _If none of them would treat a Quirkless kid like a person, are they really worth it?_

"Deku-kun!"

"Izuku-kun!"

Izuku suddenly found himself sandwiched between Ochako and Tenya, being hugged from either side. Izuku couldn't help but let out a high-pitched noise that was absolutely _not_ a yelp.

"That was great, Deku-kun!" Ochako chriped.

"Truly inspirational!" Tenya told him. "You're a very good public speaker!"

Izuku felt his face grow warm at their praise. "Th-thanks."

"Did you just stutter?" Ochako asked, letting go and pulling back to look at him. Her eyes widened. "You're blushing!"

Izuku promptly buried his face into Tenya's shoulder to hide it. Izuku could hear Ochako laughing merrily behind him and feel the shaking of Tenya's chest as he chuckled along.

"You two are the _worst_ ," Izuku declared, voice muffled by Tenya's shoulder.

"You don't mean that," Ochako's voice, full of mirth and with a teasing note, sounded behind Izuku. He felt his shoulder being poked. "We're your best friends, Deku-kun."

"Not anymore."

"Deku-kun!" Ochako whined. Tenya was laughing actively now, apparently amused by their antics.

 _Ochako and Tenya would still be my friend, even if I was Quirkless,_ Izuku thought. _They'd still like me and treat me normally. They're both just so_ good.

That was when Midnight's voice carried through the stadium once again. "Now, without any delay, let's get the first event started!"

Izuku pulled himself off of Tenya's chest, Tenya's arms releasing him to fall at his side.

"I feel like _everything_ at U.A.'s always without delay," Ochako commented.

"Plus Ultra, I guess," Izuku said.

"These are the qualifiers!" Midnight continued. "It's in this stage that so many are sent home crying every year! And the fateful first event this year is…"

Every student seemed to lean forwards, hanging onto Midnight's every word as she paused dramatically.

"This!" Midnight declared, striking a pose and pointing to the giant electronic screen, where the words "OBSTACLE COURSE RACE" popped up in bold, black letters.

 _Huh,_ Izuku thought. _It's a good thing that I worked Full Cowl out when I did. As far as I know, the only person in the class with any modicum of super speed is Tenya, so I'll probably be able to pull a good ways ahead of everyone else from the get go._

"It's a race between every member of all eleven classes!" Midnight explained as the gates to Izuku's left began to _clank_ open. "The course is a four kilometer lap around the stadium itself! Our school preaches freedom in all things!" Midnight paused to giggle gere. "So long as you don't go off the course, anything is fair game!"

 _That means any and all Quirks and methods are on the table,_ Izuku realized. _Figures as much._

"Racers, to your positions!" Midnight shouted, the first of three colored lights flickering on with her statement.

Tenya turned to Izuku and Ochako, giving the two of them a stiff yet playful salute. "I wish both of you the best of luck!"

"You too, Tenya-kun," Izuku said. "And you, Ochako-chan."

Ochako grinned. "We don't need luck. I'll see you guys at the finish line!"

With that the three of them parted ways.

 _We'll be rivals for now. Only for this event, though. Then it's back to being best friends._

Once Izuku had found his place, he dropped into a more balanced stance, ready to take off at a moment's notice. His mind was being kicked into overdrive by the _importance_ and anxiety of the situation, thoughts flying through his head as he looked for the best possible route to get ahead. _I can probably get around and in front of a bunch of people if I use Full Cowl, maybe with a few shots of Burst to get_ over _them, too. And… huh. The starting gate. It's not nearly wide enough for everyone to get through. There are way too many of us for that narrow of a passageway so—_

" _Start_!" Midnight boomed with a crack of her weapon.

Izuku was off in the space of a second, Full Cowl coming to life and energizing him. Izuku raced forwards but, even as he did so, he noticed that there was a crowd growing at the mouth of the gate, the narrowed area effectively bottlenecking the students.

Izuku smiled to himself. He fired off Burst, projecting himself upwards and towards one of the walls. With the combined momentum of Full Cowl and Burst, Izuku was able to reach the wall, a good two feet above the heads of the other students. From there, it was simple to jump from wall to wall with only the use of Full Cowl, gaining ground and getting ahead of the people below him. He briefly noticed Ochako below him as he passed her. _Hopefully she can find a way to get out of that and pull ahead to get to the next round. Who am I kidding? It's Ochako, she'll definitely find a way to push through._

Izuku was just clearing past the starting gate when he noticed a head of red and white hair break out in front of the crowd. _Todoroki._

Todoroki was freezing the ground behind him, effectively pinning the other contestants in place. It was a brutally effective strategy. However, the ice wasn't going up the walls.

Izuku grinned.

When Izuku finally reached the other end of the opening gate, he fired off Burst. With the combined powers of his two techniques, Izuku found himself launching through the air and over Todoroki effortlessly. When Izuku landed, he let his body continue forward, arms pinwheeling to keep balance as he immediately started racing off. He didn't both looking behind him. It would only slow him down.

 _Take that, you cocky bastard,_ Izuku thought maliciously, bounding further ahead with Full Cowl. _You may be fast, but you can't even_ touch _me when I have One For All on my side._

Izuku could hear voices over the speakers, but he ignored them. Anything anyone said right now would only be a distraction.

It didn't take long for Izuku to realize just what exactly the first obstacle was going to be.

 _The faux villains!_ Izuku thought as he craned his neck back, pace never once slowing as he took in the hoard of zero-pointers in front of him. Present Mic's voice was coming from the speakers again, but Izuku could _really_ care less right now, as much as he loved the man. _They're_ really _throwing these things at the students? You've got to be kidding me._

If Izuku was the same person that he had been not even two months ago, he would have skidded to a stop, desperately trying to come up with a plan to keep himself safe before eventually deciding to settle for a later placement in the race.

But Izuku wasn't that person anymore.

He never would be. Not again.

Izuku charged forwards.

Izuku could feel his mind racing as fast as he was. _They're big, but they're slow. They're clumped together so their mobility is further limited by that. I can't afford to slow down or else Todoroki and everyone else will catch up._

Izuku knew he could easily destroy at least _one_ of the zero-pointers with a full-powered punch, but he'd rather avoid breaking a limb this early on. _I can't turn back and I can't use brute force to get through._

… _Well, let's try something stupid._

Izuku took in a quick gulp of air and pumped more energy into Full Cowl, the energy around him sparking and growing even brighter. _Eight percent. Doesn't feel great, but it's better than Burst._

Izuku darted forwards, eyes scanning the area in front of him for opening between the huge robots. Unsurprisingly, the zero-pointers had somewhat sizable gaps between them, even as they made their way closer to the students.

 _Gaps. Slow. Burst and Full Cowl._

Izuku grinned.

With his brain still running on overdrive, Izuku fired off Burst and rocketed towards the gap between one of the zero-pointer's legs. He could hear the screech of metal as they moved, but they were much too slow for the combined power of Burst and Full Cowl.

Soon enough, Izuku found himself _under_ the zero-pointer and running past it. A hand from another of the faux-villains reached for him but Izuku easily ducked and rolled before bouncing back to his feet. He jumped up onto and then off of another hunk of metal, effectively pinballing himself through the giant robots.

He came out onto the other side completely unscathed.

None of the zero-pointers bothered to turn around.

 _Holy shit._

Izuku kept going, Full Cowl still crackling around him and enhancing his speed.

 _I can't believe that actually_ worked. _Holy shit, that was_ awesome.

Izuku couldn't help himself. He let out a quick _whoop!_ and did a little skip before he went back to racing seriously.

A loud _crack_ made him glance backwards. His eyes widened and he almost faltered in his pace.

Did… did Todoroki just _freeze_ all of the zero-pointers?

 _The amount of_ power _that would take to disable all of them—not to mention the control—is staggering. Note to self: do_ not _let Todoroki catch up under any circumstances._

Izuku turned his head forwards again and kept running.

He had a race to win, after all.


	13. Origins: Part XIII

Izuku stared into the abyss before him.

"So the first barrier was a piece of cake, huh?" Present Mic's voice boomed over the speakers. "How about the second? Fall and you're out! You gotta crawl across if you wanna make it!"

Izuku blinked.

"This is _The Fall_!"

Izuku's eyes raked over the web of ropes and rocky pillars that made up The Fall.

 _Fuck, that's really far down. Is this even_ safe? _Probably not._

Izuku glanced behind him. Todoroki was catching up and the rest of the pack wasn't too far behind him.

… _Let's hope I can crawl faster with Full Cowl._

Izuku crouched down and grabbed onto one of the rope with his hands, reaching out with one of them and pulling himself forward. Full Cowl _did_ speed up the process somewhat, but Izuku _knew_ that this section was going to slow him down. _Thank god for the head start._

After a fairly short amount of time, Izuku reached the first stone pillar and stood up on it. He glanced backwards. Todoroki had just arrived at the starting point and seemed to be trying to decide on the best route.

 _No time to worry about what he's going to be doing right now,_ Izuku thought. _Let's just get through this._

* * *

 _I fucking hate_ _that section,_ Izuku griped to himself as he _finally_ reached the other side. Todoroki had just _ran across_ the ropes like it was something he did every day while Bakugou had rocketed past with his explosions. Izuku had glared at the back of Bakugou's head before trying to move _faster._

Tenya had made _great_ use of his Engines to clear the area quickly while Ochako had used her Quirk on herself to run and leap across the ropes. Izuku couldn't have been more proud of them.

Izuku had barely started running again when Present Mic's voice sounded over the loudspeakers. "Our leader has reached the final obstacle!"

 _Shit, did I really lose that much time during The Fall?_ Izuku cursed under his breath as he pumped more energy into Full Cowl. He knew he'd be able to catch up again—that much was obvious by the people he was already passing by—but this was less than ideal.

"This is the Minefield!" Present Mic continued, his words dripping with excitement. "It's a deadly dirt carpet! A quick glance is enough to reveal the mines' locations! So keep both eyes open and watch your step!"

Izuku listened to the rest of Present Mic's explanation with half an ear. _It's a punishment on the people at the front and a chance for the rest of the students to catch up. But how am I going to get past everyone?_

It didn't take long for Izuku to get to the minefield. There was a decent amount of students already there, including Ochako and Tenya. Todoroki and Bakugou seemed to be in the lead. The two of them weren't even halfway across yet and they seemed to be trying their best to slow the other down. _Typical of Bakugou. I guess I shouldn't have expected anything else from Todoroki._

Izuku paused and looked down at the ground before him. Full Cowl _did_ speed up his reaction time, but not nearly enough for him to avoid every landmine. There _had_ to be some other way around that he just wasn't thinking of yet. If he was Bakugou or Ochako then he could go _over_ the field and he's be fine but—

 _Oh._

 _Well, I've done dumber shit before._

 _Find the spots that people are avoiding. Look—there!_ Izuku got over to the mine quickly and, with Full Cowl's help, was able to dig it up fairly quickly.

 _They aren't super well hidden but if you're going too fast they're easy to notice,_ Izuku thought as he continued digging up mines. _They're only meant to get you off track, but if you get knocked into another one and cause a chain reaction, it's all over. But if you could somehow get a_ shit ton _of them together in one area and get them to go off at once then—_

Izuku put the tenth mine onto his growing pile.

— _You get some explosive results._

Izuku took in a deep breath. _Here goes nothing._

Izuku deactivated Full Cowl and leaped upwards, activating Full Brace as he did so.

 _God, I hope this works._

Izuku's feet hit the edge of the pile of mines. There was a _boom_ and heat on his back before he found himself tumbling through the air, rocketed forwards and upwards by the blast.

 _This is almost like that time I grabbed All Might's leg!_ Izuku thought, wind whipping his face as he soared through the air. _Not nearly as bad, but holy shit I'm going fast._

Izuku managed to focus his attention downwards. The students he was flying past all seemed to be watching him, mouths agape.

And then he was past Bakugou and Todoroki, both in the middle of attacking each other wide-eyed as Izuku zoomed past them.

 _Eat shit, assholes!_

It was then that Izuku realized that he should have thought more about how he was going to land. _I really should have thought this through a little more. Well, it's too late now._

Full Brace was still active so he shouldn't be _too_ injured from the landing. If he could get into a roll while hitting the ground and then activate Full Cowl—

" _Deku!_ Get the hell back here!"

Bakugou's voice snapped Izuku's attention downward and behind him. It seemed that him and Todoroki had stopped fighting each other while Izuku soared over them. Bakugou was already rocketing himself forwards with his explosions and Todoroki was making a path of ice so he could run right through the minefield.

Izuku couldn't help but feel smug. _Try catching up now, fuckers._

Izuku was coming up on his landing now, a good way across the field and a good distance in front of Bakugou and Todoroki. Even though tensing up caused Full Brace to prickle, Izuku positioned his body mid-flight to prepare for a body-roll that wouldn't put him too far bad.

Izuku hit the ground, taking the brunt of the impact with his right shoulder. There was _pressure_ , almost an uncomfortable amount, but it was worlds better than how his bones would have shattered without Full Brace.

 _Click!_

 _Oh. That's not good._

The mine went off, burning at Izuku's back once again and sending him tumbling forwards. Full Brace was bordering on _painful_ now as Izuku's body was tossed forwards, jostling him over and over.

 _Please don't hit another mine! I can't afford to get behind!_

When Izuku had slowed down to a speed that he was sure wouldn't cause him harm, he scrambled to his feet, doing his best to stay in a small area so he wouldn't hit any stray mines. He took stock of his surroundings in less than a second.

 _I'm out. I cleared the minefield._

Izuku activated Full Cowl and raced forwards, a huge grin on his face as he did so. He spared only a second to look behind him. Todoroki and Bakugou were moving faster than they were before, but nowhere near quickly enough to catch up to Izuku.

"Well!" Present Mic's voice boomed over the speakers once again. Izuku listened with half an ear as he continued dashing towards the finish. "Who could have predicted such an incredible turn of events so early on? Your students really are amazing, Aizawa! The one who made it back to the stadium first is…"

Izuku cleared the finishing gate.

"... None other than Midoriya Izuku!"

Thunderous applause and cheers nearly drowned out Present Mic's announcement. Izuku could feel the noise resonating in his chest, vibrating his bones.

 _I won. It was only the first event but I won._

 _I beat Bakugou._

Izuku's eyes met All Might's.

Izuku grinned back at All Might harder than he had ever grinned before.

 _This isn't over yet. But_ damn _does it feel good._

Izuku felt his throat burn a bit. Whether it was from the swell of emotions inside of him or the high of adrenaline coming off, he couldn't say. Still, he managed to choke back his tears. It wouldn't do him any good to start crying for the whole world to see. Instead, he focused on the crowd and waited for everyone else to finish the race.

Todoroki and Bakugou soon cleared the gate. Izuku was pleased to note that Bakugou came in after Todoroki. Oh, Izuku didn't like Todoroki, but if Bakugou hated being second, then Izuku couldn't even imagine how he would feel about coming in third. Bakugou caught his gaze and pulled his mouth back in a snarl. Izuku just smiled harder.

It didn't take much longer for Tenya to cross, landing himself in sixth place. Izuku hurried over to him.

"Tenya-kun! You made it!"

To Izuku's confusion, Tenya seemed… distressed, staring down into empty space. "I came in sixth," he muttered.

Izuku had never seen him like this before. "Uh, yeah. Great job! You placed really well!"

"No, Izuku-kun, you don't understand," Tenya said. "I lost in a race. With my Quirk, I should have been on par with you! I obviously have a lot more progress to make."

"I mean, we all do," Izuku said. "That's why we're here. To improve. And you're trying your best, so that's what really matters!"

Tenya finally looked up at Izuku. He didn't smile, but something about his expression softened. "I suppose you're right, Izuku-kun. Thank you for reminding me."

"Tenya-kun! Deku-kun!"

Tenya and Izuku turned just in time to see Ochako jumping at them, an arm swinging around each of them and pulling them into a hug.

"You guys did awesome!" Ochako cheered. She gave them a quick squeeze before she let go of them and took a step back. "Tenya-kun, I've never seen you go that fast before! And Deku-kun, that was so cool when you flew over everyone like that!"

"Thank you, Ochako-san!" Tenya said. "You did quite admirably as well! I am very proud of your and Izuku-kun's performances as well!"

"We all did great," Izuku concurred. "We'll definitely get into the second event, no doubt about it."

Izuku was right. Obviously.

* * *

Ten million points.

Ten million fucking points.

Izuku was screwed.

"Deku-kun! Let's team up!"

There was at least one god out there in the universe because there was no other way to explain the existence of Uraraka Ochako.

Izuku immediately threw his arms around her. "Oh my _god,_ thank you so much Ochako-chan. I promise I'll do my best. Thank you so fucking much."

"You don't need to thank me!" Ochako chirped, patting Izuku's back in a way that soothed some of his nerves. "Teaming up with a friend just seems like the right thing to do!"

 _Ochako is a gift and I love her to bits,_ Izuku thought fervently.

Soon enough they parted and made quick work of tracking down Tenya.

"—And that's the plan," Izuku finished, a determined grin taking over his face as he finished. "With this strategy, we'll be sure to make it to the final event!"

Ochako's face was bright and there was a fire in her eyes. Izuku turned to look at Tenya and—

Izuku suppressed a flinch.

Tenya looked downcast and closed off.

No. That was wrong. This was wrong.

Izuku braced himself.

"It's the sort of brilliant plan that I would expect from you, Midoriya-kun," Tenya started. This time, Izuku actually _did_ flinch. Hearing Tenya call him by his family name so suddenly felt _wrong._ "But I'm sorry. I refuse."

Izuku could do nothing but stare at Tenya. He felt a pain in his chest.

No. _No._

"I'm sorry," Izuku blurted out, cutting off whatever Tenya was about to say next.

Tenya looked confused. "Pardon?"

"I don't know what I did but I'm sorry for whatever I did to make you so mad and—"

"Izuku-kun."

Izuku stopped.

Tenya took in a breath. "I'm not angry at you nor do I see you as anything less than one of my best friends. This is not about that. It is just… I have been losing to you ever since the Entrance Exam. It's precisely _because_ you're such a wonderful friend that I cannot follow you, untempered as I am. We are friends first, but I also wish for you to acknowledge me as a rival. So I, too, challenge you, Midoriya Izuku."

Izuku was speechless.

"Deku-kun?" Ochako asked. "Are you okay?"

Izuku shook himself out of his stupor. "Yeah, I'm fine. It's all fine. I'd wish you luck Tenya-kun, but I don't think you'll need it."

Tenya's lips twitched up into a hesitant smile. "Maybe we can grab ice cream together—the three of us? After the Sports Festival? I have it on good authority that it's illegal to go too long without it."

Izuku found himself trying to morph his face into a friendly expression, but he just _knew_ that it came out too watery. "That sounds great."

"It'll be fun!" Ochako cheered. "Ice cream is great with everything and it's even better with friends!"

Tenya nodded. "For now though…" he took a step back. Then another. "I will see you on the field."

And just like that, Tenya was walking away.

It hurt. It hurt Izuku to see Tenya walking away from him and Ochako. He understood, of course he did. Tenya wasn't anyone's shadow or sidekick. He wanted to prove that to himself as much as anyone else.

Izuku would be damned if it didn't feel like his chest had collapsed a little, though.

That was about when pink flooded his vision as someone came up _way too close_ to his face. "Team up with me, Mister First Place!"

* * *

Izuku had promised himself that we wouldn't cry on national television in front of all his schoolmates.

He failed miserably when Tokoyami revealed that he'd managed to nab enough points to land them in fourth place. His stupid plan of cranking up One For All to fifteen percent to punch Todoroki had actually fucking _worked._ Granted, not the way he had wanted it to, but they had succeeded. They were moving on.

Izuku couldn't have been happier.

He did his best to get himself together as quickly as he could—no need to make an even bigger spectacle of himself than he already had. He was wiping away the last of his tears when he felt a tap on his shoulder.

It was Todoroki.

"We need to talk," Todoroki said, deadpan. "Now."

* * *

 _Welp,_ Izuku thought to himself, standing across the hall from Todoroki, _this sure isn't weird at_ all _._

"So," Izuku said, crossing his arms. "You said that you wanted to talk. I want to get some lunch before we start fighting the others, so what was it that you wanted to say?"

Todoroki continued to glare at Izuku for a few moments. Izuku was entirely unaffected by it.

Eventually, Todoroki began to speak. "You overwhelmed me. So much so that I broke my own vow."

 _Vow?_ Izuku thought. _What vow? Some other U.A. student besides me made a vow? What about? Wait, nope. Not important right now. Figure it out later._

"Iida, Kaminari, Yaoyorozu, Tokoyami, Uraraka," Todoroki said, voice soft and indifferent. He held his hand, open and palm up, in front of his chest as he spoke. "None of them felt it. In that last instant, I was the only one that could feel the air pressure _shift._ I've been up close to All Might while he's fought villains. I _know_ what his power feels like. I felt that same power—the same change in pressure—coming from _you_."

 _Stay calm. There's no way that he could have guessed that All Might passed on his Quirk to you,_ Izuku told himself, carefully keeping his face devoid of all emotions. "So? If you have something to say, then say it."

Todoroki looked up at him, eyes cold and serious. "Are you All Might's secret love child or something?"

Izuku held eye contact with Todoroki for about two seconds, processing the question.

Then he doubled over laughing.

"Holy _shit_ ," Izuku giggled. "You think—All Might—my _dad_? Fucking _shit_ , Todoroki-kun, where the hell did you come up with _that_?"

Izuku was able to straighten himself out after a few more laughs had burst from him. Todoroki's formerly cold face seemed surprised and almost _embarrassed._

"It's true that All Might and I both have strength augmentation Quirks, but that's _it_ ," Izuku lied easily. "Last I checked, All Might doesn't break his bones when he uses his Quirk. In fact, I would go so far as to say that All Might is _extremely_ durable, far more than I am. All Might also doesn't have energy crackling around him at any time. Ever. Whenever I use _my_ Quirk, though, it's always there. While I will admit that our Quirks are similar and that he's taken a liking to me, that isn't exactly solid grounds to start thinking he's my _father_ , jeez. What are you, some kind of conspiracy theorist?"

Todoroki remained silent for a few seconds. "… I wasn't expecting that reaction."

"What _were_ you expecting?" Izuku asked. He was still more amused than anything else, but he could feel the giddiness slipping away.

"… You know, my father is Endeavor, the second greatest hero of all time" Todoroki said, like he hadn't just _obviously_ avoided Izuku's question. _Jeez, that wasn't even subtle at all!_

"What does _that_ have to do with anything?" Izuku asked.

Todoroki gave him a look that was as cold as the ice that he wielded. "If you're somehow connected to All Might—"

"Did I or did I not just get through explaining this?"

"—Then that's all the more reason for me to _crush_ you."

… _So apparently Todoroki just hates All Might. Good to know that he's worthless garbage._

"Endeavor has gone and made name for himself, but he's always seen All Might as an obstacle to overcome," Todoroki continued. "Someone whose shadow he needs to step out of. But he knew that he would never be able to defeat All Might on his own. So he came up with another plan."

Izuku narrowed his eyes. "The hell is this about, Todoroki?"

"… Have you ever heard of Quirk marriages?" Todoroki asked, once again just _blatantly ignoring_ the question.

Izuku opened his mouth to ask what that had to do with _anything_ before he realized that there might be a connection in there. _Another plan. Quirk marriages._

 _Oh._

 _I don't like where this going._

Izuku gave Todoroki a considering look. "I've heard of them. They were super common in the second and third generation of Quirk users. Rich people with strong Quirks would… force another person with a ' _desirable_ ' Quirk ito marry them just so that they could create a child with an even ' _better_ ' Quirk. It's really just a form of _eugenics_ that some people believe in because it has a different name."

Todoroki nodded. "Those generations were severely lacking in ethics. With his wealth and fame, my father forced my mom's family to agree to have them married. All so that he could get his hands on her Quirk."

Izuku watched as Todoroki's face grew darker, emotions of fury and _hatred_ flickering in his eyes. Izuku almost jolted when he realized why the expression looked so familiar.

 _That's how I look when I'm thinking of Bakugou. That's the exact same look and feeling._

"Raising me as a _hero_ ," Todoroki almost spat the word out, "just to fulfill his own ambitions of beating All Might… I _hate_ it! Being no more than a _tool_ for that rotten man. I _hate him_."

Izuku knew that he was just _staring_ at Todoroki now, but he couldn't help it. This… was _not_ anything he had been expecting to hear about today.

 _Holy fuck, this is so screwed up._

Todoroki's hand came up to slowly cover his left eye as he spoke, completely covering his scar. "I can remember that my mom was always _crying_ because of him. She couldn't take it any longer. She snapped and threw boiling water in my face, saying 'I can't stand to see his fire in you.'"

 _Child abuse,_ Izuku thought distantly. _This is just child abuse. That's it, plain and simple._

"In short," Todoroki went on, "not using my left side is my way of getting revenge on him. By never using his _villainous_ Quirk and rising to the top without it… I'll have denied him everything."

Izuku's mind was _racing_ , kicking into overdrive. _So the Number Two Hero actually just abused his son and his wife for_ way _too long and no one ever noticed? What kind of hero would—?_

… _A hero who would hurt someone like that? How are they any different to heroes who refuse to help? When Bakugou was caught by the slime villain, no one helped him. They had to rely on the spite of a Quirkless kid and the Number One Hero to save him._

 _They're not real heroes. Neither is Endeavor. Hell, they're probably the exact same people who wouldn't give a single shit about a Quirkless person._

… _Besides All Might, Aizawa, and some of the staff at the school, who's to say that any 'hero' is worthy of that title?_

 _Because, right now, I can't think of one I know for certain wouldn't do something like this._

Izuku realized that he had been off in his head for far too long when Todoroki started walking away. "Your connection to All Might, whatever it is, you can keep it to yourself. Either way, I'll rise above you with only my right side, just like I will with everyone else. Sorry for wasting your time."

It took Izuku a three precious seconds to get the rest of his body to _work._ "Todoroki-kun, wait."

Surprisingly, Todoroki stopped and turned back to face Izuku. Izuku quickly scanned the area. He didn't see anyone, but that didn't mean that they weren't there. "Come with me."

Todoroki quirked an eyebrow at that, but followed Izuku as he led the two of them further outside and from the hall they had been standing in. Once they were far enough that Izuku deemed them out of earshot from anyone who might be trying to eavesdrop, Izuku stopped.

"Okay," Izuku started, "I haven't told anyone about this, but something you said makes me feel like I can share it with you."

"… You really are All Might's secret love child?"

"What? No," Izuku said. "Seriously, drop that. It's a dumb theory. No, what I was going to say is that I can understand where you're coming from, if only a little bit."

"How could you _possibly_ —"

" _Hey_ ," Izuku cut him off. "Let me talk."

Todoroki shut his mouth.

"My Quirk didn't come in until I was fourteen," Izuku said. "I grew up believing I was Quirkless. So did everyone around me. That in and of itself isn't exactly important. What _is_ important is that this meant that I grew up being _constantly_ bullied by Bakugou and his lackeys since I was four years old. I would get beat up _all the time_ and Bakugou wouldn't hesitate to use his Quirk on me. None of the teachers or anyone else cared except my mom. That was _it._ I understand what it's like to have an _asshole_ with a fiery Quirk ruining your entire childhood."

"… You were bullied?" Todoroki asked, voice even softer than usual.

Izuku gave off a bark of bitter laughter. "Bakugou would beat me up, destroyed my stuff, made fun of me constantly, and even told me to jump off of the school roof. I'm pretty sure that counts as bullying. Anyway, being ruthlessly bullied for ten years isn't exactly great for mental health, believe it or not. So I'm going to let you in on a secret."

Todoroki looked mildly interested, which seemed to be his equivalent of being completely enraptured. Izuku leaned towards Todoroki. Todoroki didn't move.

"I _hate_ Bakugou," Izuku said. "I wouldn't be sad if he died. In fact, I would be _happy_ about it. I want him to get hurt. I want him to _suffer_ worse than I ever did. And I can guarantee that you feel the same way about your dumpster fire of a father."

Todoroki stared at him. Something flickered in his eyes, too quickly for Izuku to discern the emotion but long enough to know that he was _right._

"You said that his Quirk is awful?" Izuku forged on. " _Prove_ it. Show the world how _terrible_ he is when compared to you. Show them how you take his Quirk and use it better than he _ever_ could. _Make_ it your own. Grind Endeavor's name into the ash heap of history. Make him nothing more than a side note in the story of your life. Become the greatest and the best with your power and _renounce_ him. Give him everything he's ever wanted and then take it away from him and watch as he _crumbles_."

"… That almost sounds like something a villain would do, Midoriya," Todoroki said after a few moments.

"Okay, maybe that isn't the most _heroic_ mindset ever," Izuku conceded, "but it's _nothing_ compared to what he did to _you._ This is more than just petty revenge. This is _justice_."

 _It is petty revenge too, though,_ Izuku admitted to himself.

"And you want to do the same to Bakugou," Todoroki said, something like understanding sparking in his eyes.

"Yes," Izuku said. It hadn't been a question, but confirming it couldn't hurt. "Both for myself and what he did to Ochako-chan."

"You're… unexpectedly dark," Todoroki said.

Izuku shrugged. "It's not exactly something that I advertise. Ochako-chan and Tenya-kun are the only ones who know that I really… _dislike_ Bakugou, but they don't really know about the rest of it."

"And you're trusting me with this information?"

Izuku smiled, allowing something dark to fray at the edges of it. "Let's face it, Todoroki-kun. No one would believe you if you said anything about this."

Todoroki blinked. The corner of his lip twitched upwards for a moment in something resembling a smile. "Fair enough."

"Now that we have _that_ cleared up," Izuku said, "let me return your declaration of war with one of my own. Todoroki Shouto, I refuse to lose to you. I _will_ defeat you."

That was _definitely_ a smile. "We'll see."

"Best of luck to you," Izuku said. "You'll need it."

"As I said, we'll see."

They walked back inside, side-by-side.

* * *

After some drama that Izuku _really_ could not have cared less about, Ojiro and someone else—maybe from Class 1-B?—decided to drop out and two students from Class 1-B took their place. Izuku recognized Tetsutetsu fairly easily, but he was less familiar with the girl. Oh well, he'd figure out her name soon enough through process of elimination.

Once _that_ was out of the way, the lots for the tournament battles were drawn.

 _First person I'm up against… Monoma._

Izuku didn't know too much about who Monoma was or what the boy's Quirk was. However, he was certain that there was at least _one_ person in his class that would know.

Suddenly, Izuku noticed a quick movement from the corner of his eye. He quickly jerked around and away. He stared at the mildly surprised face of some blind kid.

"Midoriya Izuku," the kid said, his voice _reeking_ with disdain. "The best of us all. Class 1-A's shining _star._ "

 _Oh wow, this guy has_ problems, _doesn't he._ "I have no idea what you're talking about," Izuku answered honestly.

"Don't play dumb," the blond kid said, crossing his arms and tilting up his chin. "You Class 1-A students think that you can just look down on all of us. You think that you're _better_ than us. But you're _not_. And you never will be. I look forward to crushing you in our fight. It'll be a great way to open up the event."

Izuku narrowed his eyes. _I hate him already._ Taking a shot in the dark, Izuku said, "I wouldn't be too sure of that, Monoma."

Monoma just laughed. "I would. Now if you'll excuse me, I have more important things to do than talk to the likes of _you._ "

 _What an absolute bastard,_ Izuku thought as he watched Monoma stalk away. _I am going to_ love _beating his ass into the ground._

Izuku looked down the rest of the brackets. _Ashido against Shinsou—I'll have to go up against whoever wins that fight—Todoroki and Sero, Tenya and Shiozaki—that must be the girl who just got in with Tetsutetsu—then Hatsume and Kaminari, Tetsutetsu against Kirishima, Tokoyami and Yaoyorozu, and Ochako and—_

No. _No._

 _Ochako is fighting against Bakugou._

Izuku was going to _kill_ someone. He didn't know _who_ yet, but it would probably end up being Bakugou. Izuku _wanted_ it to be Bakugou.

 _If he hurts her, I'm going to hang him by his own_ intestines. _I will drag him to hell, hang him by his fingers, take the whip from Satan himself, and fucking thrash him._

Izuku swiftly scanned the area until his eyes landed on Ochako. She definitely looked nervous, though she was doing her best to put on a brave face. Izuku began to make his way over to her as quickly as possible.

"Ochako-chan," Izuku said once he was close enough.

Ochako startled a bit before looking up at him. "Oh, hi Deku-kun. So, um. The third event."

"Yeah," Izuku said. "Hey—"

"Ochako-san!"

Izuku and Ochako looked up to see Tenya practically skidding to a halt in front of them. There was a look of panic in his eyes.

"Tenya-kun—"

"Will you be alright?" Tenya asked, cutting Ochako off. He placed his hands on her shoulders. "It is not that I doubt your strength, but rather that I don't wish for your fight against Bakugou to force you to relive through the memories of—"

Ochako placed a single finger in front of Tenya's mouth. Tenya's jaw clicked shut.

"Tenya-kun. Deku-kun" Ochako started. "I'm… kind of scared, yeah. The last time I fought Bakugou it ended _really_ badly. But I've gotten stronger. We all have. I can't let Bakugou scare me. I won't let my fear of what he might do control me."

Ochako grinned at Izuku and Tenya. "So you guys better cheer really loud for me when I win!"

Ochako's cheerfulness was _dangerous._ Izuku was already smiling at her and Tenya was practically _shaking_ with determination.

"We will," Izuku promised.

"We'll be your greatest supporters in the crowd!" Tenya declared.

Izuku kept his smile on his face even as he felt his eyes slide towards Bakugou. Bakugou was standing in his typical slouch, simply glaring at the huge screen where the matches were displayed.

 _If he so much as_ singes _Ochako, I am going to rip off his scalp and shove it down his throat. I will steal his fucking_ bones.

Izuku blinked. _Well. That was darker than usual._

Izuku couldn't bring himself to care. He _knew_ that he should, that he should be alarmed by how his thoughts were getting progressively darker and more violent. And yet Izuku felt nothing but a fiery _hatred_ coiling in his gut.

 _For now, I'll let it go. I can work on this later._

 _I have time before I become a true hero._

* * *

"Midoriya-kun!"

Izuku stopped walking to turn and see Ojiro stalking towards him. _He's upset, but… I don't think it's at me. Maybe it has to do with him dropping out of the tournament?_

"Ojiro-kun," Izuku greeted. "Can I help you with something?"

Ojiro nodded. "Yeah, I just finished talking to Ashido-chan, but I wanted to tell you too. You know Shinsou, the guy with purple hair who basically declared war on Bakugou?"

 _Well now I have a name to go with his face._ "Yeah, I remember him."

"His Quirk," Ojiro said, "it's brainwashing. If you respond to something he says then you just… become his puppet. So, if he beats Ashido-chan and you go up against him, _don't_ talk to him."

Izuku blinked. _A brainwashing Quirk, huh? That's super useful and versatile. I wonder if—no. Stop. Analysis later._ "... Oh."

"Yeah," Ojiro sighed.

Izuku was still trying to get his brain to calm down when a sharp "oh!" from Ojiro had him tuning back into the world around him.

"Your first fight is up against Monoma, right?" Ojiro asked.

Izuku blinked. "Yeah, it is. Why?"

"His Quirk," Ojiro said, "if he touches someone with his hand, then he can copy their Quirk."

 _So a kid with an inferiority complex who can copy Quirks. And he'll be going up against me so—_

 _Oh._

Oh.

 _I know exactly how to handle him._

"Thanks, Ojiro-kun," Izuku said, straining to keep his voice level. "I really appreciate it."

Ojiro smiled at him. "Well, even if I can't win, one of my classmates should. Just make sure to beat them for me, okay?"

Izuku smiled. "Well, there shouldn't be any problems there. I was already planning on winning."

Ojiro huffed out a small laugh. "How are you so confident about all this? Todoroki and Bakugou are both out for your blood and you just… you're taking it all in stride."

Izuku grinned widely. "I can't afford to think about losing. I know that so long as I do my best that I'll beat them."

"A little cocky there?" Ojiro asked, his tone teasing.

"Nah, just determined."

* * *

Izuku stood in the tunnel leading into the arena, taking deep breaths and ignoring whatever commentary Present Mic was making. He had a plan for dealing with Monoma. A plan that would teach Monoma a lesson, paint Izuku as a kind person, and further demonstrate the power of One For All. Izuku would _win._ He would _crush_ Monoma.

"Hey!"

Izuku looked over his shoulder to see All Might. Izuku couldn't fight a smile. "Hi. Did you come to wish me luck?"

All Might laughed heartily. "I did, although I'm sure that you don't need it. You've embraced the power of One For All and made it your own. You've used it in ways that I've never even imagined! I'm incredibly proud of you."

Izuku stared up at All Might. Here was the Number One Hero, going out of his way to wish Izuku luck and let him know that he was _proud._ It made Izuku feel… _loved._

 _Is… this what having a dad is like?_

Izuku quickly smothered that thought. _You're just thinking of it because of Todoroki's dumb theories._ "I'm only here because you believed in me, All Might. If you hadn't… I don't know where I would be."

"My dear Prince of Nonsense, you may not have made it into U.A., that much is true," All Might said. "However, there is no doubt in my mind that you would _still_ be becoming the best hero that you could be. I simply sped up the process."

Izuku grinned. "Thank you. You saying that… it means a lot to me."

Suddenly, All Might inflated. "Just remember to smile like you are smiling now! Even when you don't feel brave— _especially_ when you feel scared—you must show the world that you will stand strong! Never forget that I'm expecting even _bigger_ things from you, young Midoriya!"

Izuku felt his grin widen further. "I won't forget. Thank you, All Might."

"The first match!" Present Mic's voice boomed throughout the arena as Izuku stepped forwards. "The best performer so far in the Sports Festival, it's Midoriya Izuku from the Hero Course! Versus Monoma Neito, the cool and calm student from Class 1-B!"

Izuku simply kept his gaze locked on Monoma as Present Mic continued to explain the rules. He already knew _exactly_ how to deal with this fight.

"Now!" Present Mic shouted. "Let's get started!"

Izuku immediately painted a slightly panicked and concerned look over his face. "Monoma-kun, please don't copy my Quirk! Let's both fight without them. I don't want you to get hurt!"

 _Goad him. Use his inferiority complex to your advantage,_ Izuku thought to himself. _But make sure you act like you care. Pretend that you give a shit about him. Don't let the world know what you have planned._

"You Class 1-A kids really _are_ at the height of arrogance, aren't you?" Monoma snarked. "You're just _afraid_ that I'm going to be better at using your Quirk than you are, aren't you? How _typical_." With that, Monoma began racing towards Izuku.

Izuku immediately activated Full Cowl, the familiar energy crackling around him as he used his power to stay _away_ from Monoma. _I can't let him tag me. Not yet._

"My Quirk is too powerful!" Izuku yelled, fake compassion ringing in his voice. "You'll hurt yourself if you copy it!"

Monoma twisted his face in a way that made him look unhinged. "Yeah, _right._ Like I'll believe that. I _know_ what your game is. Don't take me for an idiot!"

 _Oh, it's much too late for that._

Monoma all but _growled_ and charged at Izuku. With Full Cowl fired up, Izuku was easily able to evade and duck and avoid Monoma's attempts at copying his Quirk, insisting that Monoma stop during the whole thing. And so their little game of cat and mouse continued with Monoma growing increasingly _pissed off_ and Present Mic shouting out commentary.

 _Perfect._

Right before jumping out of the way of Monoma's outstretched hand, Izuku pretended to stumble. He felt fingertips graze over his forearm.

 _All according to plan._

Izuku quickly bounded away once more before turning around to face a grinning Monoma. The boy's face was arrogant and _dark_. Izuku did his best to cover up a matching expression with a look of panic.

"Oh!" Present Mic's voice boomed in the arena. "It seems that Monoma was able to copy Midoriya's Quirk, despite Midoriya's insistence!"

"Monoma-kun!" Izuku cried out. "Don't!"

" _Don't_?" Monoma parroted mockingly. "I have your strength now, Midoriya. And I'll use it even better than _you_."

Izuku saw the energy of One For All flare to life on Monoma's arm for about two second before a look of abject _terror_ overtook Monoma's face.

Izuku activated Full Brace and threw his arms in front of his face right before a burst of energy released from Monoma's arm. Izuku was able to keep himself from sliding back too far, staying inside of the ring.

After the the air around him had finally settled, Izuku lowered his arms and gazed at his handiwork.

Monoma's right arm looked _awful._ It was missing a few _chunks_ , especially around his shoulder and elbow, so much so that Izuku was surprised that Monoma's arm was still _hanging on_. The area in front of Monoma was splattered with carnage, his ruined arm bleeding freely and bending in all the wrong places and ways.

There was a beat of silence before Monoma began _screaming_ and fell to his knees. His shrieks were the kind that curdled blood and made the hair on the back of Izuku's neck stand up on end. He had never heard anything like this before.

This was what true pain sounded like.

Izuku found that he was less surprised than he should have been at the fact that he seemed to _enjoy_ the noises that Monoma was making. It made it easier for him to fake being horrified, this level of calm.

 _This isn't normal,_ Izuku thought blankly as he forced his body to tremble and tears to accumulate in the corners of his eyes. Present Mic was saying something over the speakers, but Izuku wasn't focusing enough on him to process what he was saying. _This level of detachment. How much I like seeing him in pain._

 _This isn't what a normal person is like._

 _But… since when have I been normal?_

Monoma was still screaming himself ragged, the sound filling what would otherwise be shocked silence. Only a few more seconds passed before what appeared to be paramedics rushed into the arena. Two of them were carrying a stretcher while the other three began attending to Monoma. They bandaged him hastily but well—from what Izuku could tell, at least—before gently placing him on the stretcher. And then they were hustling off of the field with Monoma who was _still_ screeching.

A bony hand landed on Izuku's shoulder. Izuku turned his blank, tearful gaze up to see All Might in his true form, the man's face twisted in something like nausea. Izuku didn't like that look at all. "Let's head out now, young Midoriya."

Izuku nodded and let All Might guide him out of the arena.

 _Well. I certainly made an impression._

Izuku forced a smile down.

 _Perfect._

* * *

 **A/N: So,** **Monoma copying One For All.** **In the manga, I know that he fails to copy it. However, I'm interpreting that since Izuku very much did not want to let Monoma copy OFA in the manga, it didn't work. OFA can't be unwillingly taken.** **But it _can_ be forcibly given. And that's essentially what Izuku was doing here.**

 **Also I've had this plot point in my head since before that chapter came out and I'll be damned if I don't play around with it.**

 **Thank you all for reading. I hope that you loved the chapter!**


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